I try not to contradict Nate very often but there's a perfectly valid reason why it takes so long to count votes in California.

Here is a typical timeline: - Jarvis@jarvis_best 

Election Day: everyone votes 

• Week 1: mail in ballots, absentee ballots, military ballots, overseas ballots, ballots accidentally issued to people’s pets, and ballots harvested from Skid Row start trickling in. 
• Week 2: As the ballots pile up, Officials consider appointing a Committee to Count Ballots. 
• Week 3: Committee to Count Ballots is appointed and commences discussion on electing a chairman. Week 4: deadline for ballots from illegal immigrants. 
• Week 5: Committee decides that “chairman” is an outdated term and will be replaced by a term to be decided later once the Committee to Count Ballots Diversity Consultants finishes their report. 
• Week 6: fraudulent ballots from the Chinese Communist Party arrive. 
• Week 7: The Committee elects as Chairzerxon a nonbinary disabled child to count the ballots. 
• Week 8: it is discovered that the Chairzerxon does not actually know how to count. 
• Week 9: the ballots are thrown away and the Committee announces election results that are entirely made up.