Orange County, home to one of the closest House races, still counting votes

Why does counting votes in Orange County take so long?

Derek Tran still holds a narrow lead over Michelle Steel in the race for California's 45th Congressional District in Orange County. Votes are still being counted two weeks after the election.

SANTA ANA, Calif. - More than two weeks after Election Day, and registrar workers in Orange County continue counting ballots.

"This is normal speed," said Bob Page, Registrar of Voters in Orange County. "We’re not going any slower than we normally did."

California is historically slow at counting ballots because most voters vote by mail. Workers say the process of verifying signatures can be time-consuming.

Eyes across the country are now focused on Orange County as it has one of the closest races still up for grabs.

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California’s 45th Congressional District, after 2 weeks, remains too close to call a winner. Republican incumbent Michelle Steel took the initial lead after Election Day. However, Democrat Derek Tran has since flipped it.

As of Thursday, with more than 310,000 ballots counted, Tran led by just 397 votes. While Republicans have already secured control of the House, California’s 45th district race will determine just how strong the party’s majority is.

"I know my team is committed to doing a good job, and they’re focused on being efficient and accurate," said Page.

FOX 11 observed the counting process Thursday afternoon. While we were there, workers were determining the authenticity of signatures on ballots.

"If the signature on the envelope significantly differs from the signature on file, then we’re required to mail them a first-class letter to send a statement in, saying they did vote [on] that ballot," said Page.

As a result, Republicans and Democrats are out in the county trying to "cure" votes. Meaning, they’re using the publicly accessible list of ballots with signatures in question, making calls and knocking on doors, trying to get those registrar letters returned.

"[We’re] simply helping voters making sure the ballot they cast is actually counted," said Tamara Melzer Levenson, Executive Director for Grassroots Democrats HQ. "Elections are not over on Election Day. Elections are over when the last ballot can be counted. In California, it will be December 1st."

The Chairwoman of California’s Republican Party, Jessica Millan Patterson, provided a written statement about the count and District 45 race.

"It’s understandably frustrating to many Californians that several states can call their races within a few hours of polls closing, and in our state, it’s been a few weeks, and we still have hundreds of thousands of ballots to get through and several races that have yet to be called – including Congressional District 45," said Millan Patterson. "While the CAGOP can’t control how quickly the count goes, we can control implementing a top-notch election integrity operation that, since voting ended, has been monitoring the ballot count, curing ballots, and protecting the vote. We’ve mobilized staff, volunteers, and attorneys in CA-45 and will stay actively engaged in this race until the last legal ballot is cured and counted."

The public is invited to watch the counting process at the Orange County Registrar.

"In California the election law was established by Sacramento," said Page. "They put a premium on access, accuracy, and voter participation. For years now we’ve had about 4 weeks to finish."