A voting booth is set up in 2023 at Urban Ore in Berkeley. California’s procedures for ensuring a fair and accurate vote count take more time than those of many other states, and delay the certification of final results.

1 … 2 ... 3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … 7 … 8 … 9 … um … what’s next?

Oh, that’s right: 10.

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Thank you for waiting, America, while this Californian took his time counting. I know that you get impatient when we Californians count slowly, especially when counting votes.

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Just think: With the time you wasted waiting for me just now, you could have slapped tariffs on allies. Or launched another war.

But I just had to get to 10. Because my fellow Californians and I want to take full responsibility for how long it takes us to count all our ballots.

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So, let us say now, from the deep, dark bottoms of our hearts: We’re sorry, America.

We’re sorry that we can’t give you final results on election night, that we require weeks to complete vote tallies. We’re sorry that we make you wait before you can threaten newly elected officeholders on social media.

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We’re doubly sorry that we let our voters wait until Election Day to mail their ballots, giving them as much time........

© San Francisco Chronicle