An investigation into Los Angeles County’s ballot processing facility reveals numerous empty workstations despite hundreds of thousands of ballots still awaiting review.
As vote counting continues across Los Angeles County and California, reporters visiting the county’s 144,000-square-foot ballot center Thursday found large sections of the facility understaffed. County officials reported Wednesday that only 77,521 additional ballots had been processed since the June 2 election, while approximately 713,180 ballots remained outstanding.
What Investigators Found
Reporters observed significant portions of work stations sitting empty throughout the facility. In one area where election workers manually review ballots that scanners cannot read automatically, roughly 25 bins of ballots appeared ready for processing with no employees seated at nearby desks.
In another section where workers open envelopes and prepare ballots for counting, approximately 75 employees were working despite the area being capable of accommodating more than twice that number. Boxes of ballots were visible throughout multiple sections of the center.
Official Response and Resources
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office operates with an annual budget of nearly $336 million and more than 1,100 authorized positions, making it one of the largest local election operations in the nation. Reporters submitted questions to the office asking about current staffing levels, whether vacancies exist, and why workstations appeared unoccupied.
State officials have proposed deploying additional resources to address delays. A proposal would establish an Emergency Election Count Accelerator Corps to help clear ballot backlogs across California through state personnel and rapid-response teams.
Political Response
The slow pace of ballot counting has drawn criticism from political figures. State officials characterized the situation as problematic for California’s national reputation, noting that the state hosts advanced technology companies yet requires extended periods to count ballots.
The investigation highlighted the contrast between available resources and actual staffing levels at the facility. Election officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about why capacity appeared underutilized during the counting process.
This story has been updated. CNN’s reporting team contributed to this report.
