BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - The Butte County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters, Keaton Denlay, is disappointed with the passing of Assembly Bill 3184, signed into law Sept. 22.

Butte County Elections Division prides itself on providing secure, accurate and fast elections for its voters. Elections are made secure through voter role maintenance, signature verification and ballot tracking tools for voters. Accuracy is assured through paper ballots, logic and accuracy testing and manual audits.

Butte County Elections Division strives to make elections as fast as possible. We work diligently to verify signatures and tabulate ballots efficiently. The Election Certification process has built in timeframes to allow for voters who forgot to sign their envelopes or whose signatures have changed to correct these errors. With all these steps, certification used to be able to be completed, under California law, at the earliest, by Thanksgiving, or 17 days after the election. Butte County Elections Division has a long history of certifying as soon as possible in line with those laws.

However, with the passing of Assembly Bill 3184, all California counties will now be prohibited from certifying results in a timely manner. The new law, signed by Governor Newsom, requires all counties to wait 28 days before certifying their election results.

Even with this new law, we remain dedicated to providing the best voting experience for our voters and will continue to conduct our election canvas in a timely manner. However, we will not be permitted to make the results for the Nov. 5 Presidential Election official until Dec. 3.

We understand and share the frustration this will bring our voters.

Updated election results will be posted on the website at www.ButteVotes.net during the canvas period.