The polls are closed in California.
asserted
polls → close → California
Some winners are already celebrating, some losers are licking their wounds, and in dozens of races we’re going to be waiting days — possibly weeks — to find out who actually won.
uncertain
who → celebrate → races
Although Democrats outnumber Republicans here in the Golden State by millions of voters, some of the early called races are no surprise at all.
asserted
some → outnumber → races
We do know that Democrat Xavier Becerra beat Republican Steve Hilton for governor by a wide margin, as did all the Democrats running for statewide office, except in the Insurance Commissioner’s race.
asserted
Democrats → know → race
That one features two Democrats in a close race.
asserted
one → feature → race
Of course, I hoped Hilton could end Republicans’ long losing streak in statewide elections.
uncertain
Hilton → hop → elections
Becerra made sure that streak continues.
asserted
streak → make → ?
Some good news: Election night returns show Proposition 40, the “billionaire tax,” losing by double digits.
asserted
Proposition → show → digits
But Proposition 3, the extension of the higher income tax rates for millions, passing by even more.
asserted
Proposition → pass → more
Proposition 39, the Voter ID measure, was getting trounced by nearly twenty points.
asserted
Proposition → trounce → points
Also Proposition 43, to make it harder to raise local taxes, was going down.
asserted
it → make → taxes
With the “Blue Tsunami” sweeping the nation, Republicans are losing at the Congressional, State Senate, and Assembly levels up and down California.
asserted
Republicans → sweep → California
It’s ugly.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Meanwhile, the candidates in the closer races are going to be staring at their phones for days, waiting for the next batch of votes.
asserted
candidates → go → votes
Others are trailing.
asserted
Others → trail → ?
And if history is any guide, a fair number of those early leads won’t survive the counting.
asserted
number → survive → counting
I’ve watched this happen to Republicans for decades.
asserted
this → watch → decades
I call it California’s red undertow.
asserted
I → call → it
Republicans Jeff Denham, David Valadao, Young Kim, and Mimi Walters all led on election night.
asserted
Denham → lead → night
Every one of them lost.
asserted
one → lose → them
Kim actually flew to Washington for new member orientation.
asserted
Kim → fly → orientation
She came home without a seat in Congress.
asserted
She → come → Congress
I’ve sat in those campaign offices after Election Day, watching every county update shave a few hundred more votes off the lead.
asserted
update → sit → lead
It’s a miserable experience, especially when everybody knows where the trend is heading.
asserted
trend → ’ → ?
We saw another example in June’s Los Angeles mayoral primary.
asserted
We → see → primary
Republican Spencer Pratt led Democrat Nithya Raman early, only to watch Raman overtake him as more ballots were counted.
asserted
ballots → lead → him
Republicans tend to return their mail ballots earlier, and those ballots dominate the first reports.
asserted
ballots → tend → reports
Ballots dropped off on Election Day, late-arriving mail, and provisionals can look very different politically.
asserted
provisionals → drop → Day
None of that means the later ballots are fraudulent.
asserted
ballots → mean → that
They’re lawful votes and they have to be counted.
asserted
they → ’re → ?
But California has built a system in which Election Day is increasingly just the day we start finding out what happened.
asserted
what → build → which
I think it’s a disgrace.
asserted
it → think → ?
Every active registered voter gets a ballot mailed to his or her home, postage paid.
asserted
postage → register → home
Ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to seven days later.
asserted
Ballots → postmark → Day
Then there are signature checks, provisional ballots, and opportunities for voters to correct certain problems.
asserted
voters → be → problems
Florida and Texas manage to give voters a pretty good idea of who won within hours.
asserted
who → manage → hours
California has more voters, certainly, but that’s hardly an excuse for a system that leaves competitive races hanging for weeks.
asserted
that → have → weeks
They didn’t write these laws.
asserted
They → write → laws
Then there’s ballot security, which bothers me even more.
asserted
which → ’ → me
At a polling place, election workers and observers can watch the process.
asserted
workers → watch → process
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
