Processing Votes by Mail

In his tweets (see my previous post), President Trump wrote “go to your Polling Place to see whether your Mail In Vote has been Tabulated (Counted). … If it has not been Counted, VOTE”

This reflects a common misunderstanding of the way vote by mail ballots are handled. There is a distinction between processing vote by mail ballots and counting the votes on them.

Processing a vote by mail ballot has two basic parts:

1. The voter signature on the envelope is validated, and that the voter has voted is recorded. This can start 29 days before the election ([1], §15101(a)).
2. The envelopes are opened, the ballots are removed and prepared to be counted, for example by being scanned. The ballots are not actually counted at this time. ([1], §15101(b)(1)).

Then, the votes are counted. These counts cannot be released until 8 p.m. on Election Day. ([1], §15101(b)(1), §15101(c)).

So when you go to a polling station, your vote will not have been counted yet, because it can't be counted until the polls close.

Reference

1. California Elections Code Division 15, Chapter 2. Vote by Mail Ballot Processing (2020). URL: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=ELEC&division=15.&title=&part=&chapter=2.&article=.