Election 2022: Here’s why we won’t know LA County’s winners and losers for a while

Election Day came and went on Tuesday — but the intrigue won’t end there.

That’s because Los Angeles County won’t be sure of the winners and losers from the 2022 statewide general election for a couple of weeks.

Counting votes, after all, is a long process.

The first round of results the LA County registrar’s office posted Tuesday night, shortly after polls closed, featured only vote-by-mail ballots that arrived before Election Day. The second round, later that night, included ballots cast early at Vote Centers and dropboxes. Subsequent results the registrar released on election night included most ballots cast at Vote Centers on Election Day — but not all.

The state allows same-day registration, but ballots cast by those who registered on Election Day are considered provisional. The registrar’s office must verify those voters are eligible to participate in the election. Ballots with write-in candidates or those that were damaged also need to be reviewed.

Beyond those ballots, there are others outstanding as well: VBMs that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive within seven days of the election are among those.

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The registrar has 30 days to tally all eligible ballots and certify the election.

The registrar’s is tentatively scheduled to certify the election on Dec. 5, with the Board of Supervisors set to do so the following day. And the office is schedule to update the results every Friday and Tuesday until all ballots are tallied.