They count ballots postmarked AFTER Election Day.

According to the "news" counting runs slow in CA because:

- about 80% of ballots cast in CA are by mail.

- ballots postmarked by election day are counted, even if it takes the Post Office a week, or more, to deliver them

- the signatures on the ballot envelopes are compared to the registration signatures on file to verify they are from registered voter.

So, it takes a while. If you want to spend bazillions of dollars hiring more staff to compare signatures, you could speed it up. If you eliminate verifying signatures, at the risk of increased fraud, you could speed it up. Or, you could outlaw voting by mail, which would again, require bazillions of dollars being spent setting up, equipping, and staffing, more polling places to handle the extra volume.

You pick.

Steve