Election officials were optimistic a result would come sooner but they were met with some delays during the process.

Election law expert Hans von Spakovsky says California's slow vote counting stems from mass mail voting, a seven-day ballot window, and cure periods.

It has long been the case that big cities, which have more ballots to count, report results slower than rural counties do.

Mail-in ballots and security measures contribute to counting delays in California's close contests, an election expert says, and last-minute voters in the governor's race may slow things down further.

Experts say speeding up the count in California would take more resources, but also scaling back rules that expand voting access.