Donald Trump was declared as the president-elect within less than 24 hours of when polls opened on election day, but there are still races here in Orange County that may be too close to call.
The OC Registrar of Voters published an election update through their newsletter on Nov. 19 stating, “We estimate we are still processing about 40,000 challenged Vote-By-Mail ballots, provisional ballots, and damaged or mismarked ballots that require duplication. These types of ballots take additional time to process,” said Bob Page, OC Registrar of Voters in a newsletter emailed to The Hornet on Nov. 21.
As of Nov. 25, the OC Registrar reports that 75.8% of the ballots cast had been counted.. Ballots that were postmarked on Election Day are still eligible, so it takes the county longer to count those vote-by-mail and provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are the ballots cast by voters on Election Day whose voter registration eligibility is yet to be verified.
There are 1,861,450 registered voters in Orange County, and 1,411,822 ballots have been counted as of Nov. 25. There are an estimated 12,676 ballots left to be processed, according to the Nov. 25 update from the Registrar, and 11,090 ballots whose signatures have been challenged.
Ballots undergo steps that are needed to verify accuracy. California recently enacted Assembly Bill 3184, giving voters until Dec. 1 to address signature challenges on their ballots and prohibiting any county from certifying their election results before Dec. 3.
Close races in Orange County
With ballots still being counted, a handful of races are still too close to call. The following races, whose areas fall within the Fullerton and North Orange County communities, still haven’t been called or were just recently decided.
The OC Registrar of Voters updates total ballots cast for each race daily, but those numbers may include ballots that are not valid because of signature challenges.
The United States 45th Congressional district spans Orange and Los Angeles counties. Democratic candidate Derek Tran is leading with , 157,622 counted votes, or 50.1% of the vote, andRepublican incumbent Michelle Steel has 157,041 votes, or 49.9%. Only 581 votes separate the two candidates, as of Nov. 25, 2024.
In Orange County, which is still counting votes, Steel has 50.65%, while Tran has 49.35 percent, with 3,633 separating them.There are 292,512 ballots cast in that race in Orange County, according to mapping data from the OC Registrar of Voters on Nov. 25, leaving 11,515 votes left to be counted in that race in Orange County, pending ballot eligibility. L.A. County hasn’t reported an update since Nov. 21, 2024. But both counties have until Dec. 3 to certify their election results. .
The tight race for State Senator District 37 was just called on the morning of Monday, Nov. 25, when Democrat incumbent Josh Newman conceded to Republican Steven Choi.
Choi has a total of 231,566 votes, or 50.67%. Newman is just behind with 225,419 at 49.35%. That’s a 6,146 difference, but with 481,878 ballots cast in that race, according to the OC Registrar of Voters mapping data, there are still approximately 24,893 votes that are yet to be counted.
The Fullerton School District Board race for Area 5 is being led by candidate Vanesa Estrella with a total of 3,838, at 51.11% of the votes. Following is incumbent Leonel Talavera at 3,671 with 48.89%. With a total of 8,546 ballots reportedly cast in that race, as of Nov. 25, there are 1,037 left to be counted, and the candidates currently have only a 167 vote difference.
The Fullerton City Council District 4 race has three out of the four candidates actively running, since Scott Markowitz dropped out after pleading guilty to felony perjury for falsifying nomination paperwork. In the lead is Jamie Valencia with 3,467 votes at 36.01%. Following is candidate Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo with 3,413 votes at 35.45%. These two candidates only have a 54 vote difference while 995 votes have yet to be counted of the 10,623 cast in that race, according to the Registrar of Voters. Candidate Linda Whitaker has a total of 1,732 with just 17.99% of the votes.
Why the long process?
Before certifying election results on Dec. 3, accuracy from approximately 450 ballot scanners that were used in counting the Presidential General Election will be verified during a process called the Post-Election Logic and Accuracy test. This will make sure scanners count Vote-By-Mail and Provisional ballots accurately and will be implemented at the 184 Vote centers.
“California elections laws prioritize voter access and voter participation over speed,” said the registrar in the newsletter. “Orange County is committed to making sure that every eligible vote is processed, and counted accurately.”
The OC Registrar produces daily reports along with maps that focus on the overall voter results, divided by precinct, districts, cities, and more. For more information and election result updates, visit ocvote.gov/detailed-results and ocvote.gov/map-central.
