[This column was reported for Political Breakdown, a bi-monthly newsletter offering analysis and context on Bay Area and California political news. Click here to subscribe.]
Gov. Gavin Newsom to election officials in California’s 58 counties this week with a simple request: count votes faster.
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Newsom and state lawmakers have spent years building a vote-by-mail system that maximizes convenience and accessibility for California voters. The tradeoff: a longer vote count that President Donald Trump and Republicans have seized on to spread false claims of voter fraud.
“We must acknowledge that the longer the voting count takes, the more mis- and disinformation spreads,” Newsom wrote. “That means we must do all that we can to tabulate votes quickly and accurately. Time is of the essence in preventing election lies from taking hold.”
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