Election Update: Fresno County voters add to Valadao’s lead. Where the numbers stand
The latest Fresno County ballot count update on Friday showed David Valadao has increased his lead in the District 21 congressional race.
The Hanford Republican has 52% of the vote over incumbent Rep. TJ Cox, D-Fresno, who has 48% according to the Fresno County Registrar of Voters Office. That mirrors the overall race, which Valadao leads by 5,293 votes out of nearly 124,000 ballots counted so far.
Valadao has a lead of more than 1,500 votes in Fresno County for the seat he held before being beaten out by Cox in 2018, but this year’s race is still too close to call.
Valadao also held a modest lead of 14 votes in Tulare County. The tally he carries in Kings County, where he’s from, grew by about 3,000 votes on Friday to a more than 10,000-vote lead.
But Cox had a stronger showing in the Bakersfield area, leading Valadao by more than 6,000 votes.
Fresno County has tallied 327,943 ballots, which is a 66% turnout of registered voters with 38,340 ballots still to count, according to the registrar’s office. Then there are any ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 that make it to the office within 17 days after the election.
Fresno vote for president
Fresno County voters have favored President-elect Joe Biden with 53% in his quest to unseat President Donald Trump, who has 45% from the county’s voters. Merced County voters also have favored Biden.
Trump has done better in Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.
Madera County had 11,541 ballots remaining to count as of Thursday night, according to Justin White, the chief assistant county clerk.
Statewide
California election officials estimate they have about 4.5 million more ballots to be processed and counted as part of the 2020 general election, the Secretary of State’s Office announced Thursday evening.
Prior to the close of polls Tuesday, ballot trackers reported nearly 13 million votes had been cast in early voting and absentee ballot returns. The Secretary of State on Thursday reported counties have already processed 12.4 million ballots, according to the latest updates.
Update times varied by county, however, with some reporting numbers from Tuesday night and others from as recent as Thursday afternoon.
Ballots can arrive up to 17 days after election day in California, and officials have up to 30 days after to complete their official canvass.
“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, California has conducted an unprecedented election to ensure voters maintain their right to cast their ballot safely and securely,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement.
“County elections officials have been hard at work processing and counting the millions of ballots cast by California voters. Ensuring the accuracy and the integrity of the vote count is critical to our democracy. State law gives county elections officials up to 30 days after Election Day to complete vote counting, auditing, and certification. In California, we work to ensure every ballot is counted properly and every ballot is accounted for.”
Tensions are high across the nation as swing states like Nevada and Pennsylvania continue to count ballots in the presidential race. Although any additional ballot counts are unlikely to affect Biden’s substantial lead over Trump in California, they could change the outcome of several close down-ballot races, including some congressional races.
As of Thursday, the Associated Press had yet to make calls in nine California congressional contests and three ballot measures. California is also awaiting final results in more than two dozen state legislature races.
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 3:22 PM.
