ELECTION

AP News -  One week after Election Day, control of the U.S. House rests on just over a dozen races where winners have not yet been determined. Nine states have at least one uncalled House race, some of which are so close they are headed to a recount.

Then there’s California. About half of the yet-to-be-decided House races are in the state, which has only counted about three-quarters of its votes statewide. This isn’t unusual or unexpected, as the nation’s most populous state is consistently among the slowest to report all its election results. Compare it to a state like Florida, the third-largest, which finished counting its votes four days after Election Day.

The same was true four years ago, when Florida reported the results of nearly 99% of ballots cast within a few hours of polls closing. In California, almost one-third of ballots were uncounted after election night, and the state was making almost daily updates to its count through Dec. 3, a full month after Election Day.

These differences in how states count — and how long it takes — exist because the Constitution sets out broad principles for electing a national government, but leaves the details to the states. The choices made by state lawmakers and election officials as they sort out those details affect everything from how voters cast a ballot to how quickly the tabulation and release of results takes place, how elections are kept secure and how officials maintain voters’ confidence in the process.