CA election outcomes might take some time

There are solely two extra days to vote in California, and greater than 7.6 million Californians have solid their ballots. However the counting will final for days, if not weeks, earlier than information retailers declare all of the winners or candidates concede.

The delays and uncertainty — which have grown since California began sending mail ballots to all voters — can sow doubts and even conspiracy theories. So state and native election officers are making an attempt to reassure voters that their ballots are protected in opposition to cyber and different assaults and will probably be counted.

To deliver extra transparency and construct public belief within the rely, the nonpartisan California Voter Basis is launching a brand new mission that, in seven swing congressional districts, will monitor what number of ballots have been counted, what number of ballots stay to be tallied and the margin between the 2 candidates. The updates will begin Tuesday and finish Dec. 5.

• Kim Alexanderthe muse’s president, in an announcement: “We have more competitive races and narrower margins in California today than we used to. In some contests, practically every single ballot must be counted before a winner can be determined.”

A reminder: Whereas there are some mishaps, there may be no proof of widespread voter fraud in California that might change the election outcomes.

One hotbed for election threats and disinformation is Shasta County. In June, county supervisors employed a prosecutor with no election administration expertise to interchange the county’s outgoing elections chief. CalMatters’ Sergio Olmos visited final week and reviews that the presence of self-appointed election observers has led some elections staff to give up.

The observers spend their days on the county’s registrar of voters workplace looking out for any misdeeds associated to voter fraud. Although voters are legally allowed to enter the workplace to look at the election course of, staffers report that the observers have been following staff into their breakroom and making an attempt to open doorways to see inside their workplaces.

Their depth pushed Tanner Johnson to give up after working as an account clerk for greater than a 12 months. He says that 10 of the registrar’s 21 workers have additionally left.

• Johnson: “They want to catch us in a lie, so they’ll try to trick you into saying something. A lot of times they’ll be secretly videotaping you or recording you. … I make $19.64 an hour. I’m not going to be a martyr for $19.60 an hour.”

Learn extra about Shasta County election staffers quitting in Sergio’s story.

Let’s dive into some extra election information:

• New ballot: Supporters of Proposition 32 to lift the minimal wage are discovering hope within the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Research survey launched Friday that exhibits 47% of doubtless voters in help, 39% in opposition to and 14% nonetheless undecided, in comparison with 37% in favor, 36% opposed and 27% not sure in its late September ballot. On different props, the UC Berkeley ballot, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Instances, discovered continued robust help (60% in favor) for Prop. 36which might enhance some legal penalties, and rising opposition (45%) to Prop. 33 (in comparison with simply 35% in favor), which might enable cities to increase lease management.

• Voter registration: The closing numbers for the November election present that Democrats make up 46% of California’s registered voters, Republicans account for 25% and no get together desire for 22%. The overall of twenty-two.6 million registered voters is an all-time excessive, about 548,000 greater than on the identical level in 2020.

• Group faculty races: In Southern California, debates over “culture war” points, reminiscent of displaying the LGBTQ+ Pleasure flag on campuses, are fueling huge bucks for some group faculty board elections. As CalMatters’ Adam Echelman and Erica Yee clarify, in Santa Clarita’s School of the Canyons, for instance, two trustee candidates and their political motion committees have raised greater than $450,000. Each committees agree that trustees shouldn’t deal with partisan points (“the race is about students,” mentioned one committee member), however they declare their opponents are doing simply that. Learn extra about these faculty board races in Adam and Erica’s story.

Throughout a time of seemingly countless rounds of tech layoffs in Silicon Valleya bit of fine information: On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the U.S. Division of Commerce introduced {that a} main federal analysis heart for semiconductor know-how will probably be situated in Sunnyvale.

The Design and Collaboration Facility will function the headquarters for the Nationwide Semiconductor Expertise Heart and Natcast, the non-profit group that oversees the middle. The ability will play a significant function in “semiconductor design research, workforce development, investment, and collaboration across the entire semiconductor value chain,” in keeping with the federal division.

• Newsom, in a recorded assertion: “It’s so appropriate that this new headquarters does exist in the state of California. Because (of) our creativity, because we have more scientists, engineers, Nobel laureates, more patents emanating out of California than any state in the nation. This is a big deal because it reinforces California’s status as a leader, as an innovator.”

Over the following 10 years the power can be anticipated to spur greater than 200 jobs and $1 billion in analysis funding, in keeping with Newsom’s workplace. It will likely be one in every of three analysis amenities for CHIPS for America, a federal initiative underneath President Joe Biden’s administration to spice up semiconductor improvement and manufacturing within the U.S. in competitors with China.

It’s a win for California, however hardly sufficient to reverse the practically 50,000 tech job losses within the Bay Space alone since 2022. The entire sector has been hemorrhaging positions, together with at main corporations reminiscent of Amazon, Google and Microsoftin addition to smaller startups. Inflation, overhiring in the course of the pandemic and investments in synthetic intelligence have been cited as doable causes for the layoffs.