Already 1 million ballots have been declared invalid in California, 2.5 million still uncounted

[onenote]

49. I think one of the differences is that California isn't solely vote by mail

That means that on election day (and leading up to it) you have to devote considerable resources and man/woman hours to preparing for, managing, and counting in-person votes.

Also, and I don't know how it works in Oregon, and I'm not defending the legal requirements imposed in California, but according the California Secretary of State's election FAQs, http://vote.sos.ca.gov/frequently-asked-questions/#faq-reporting

"Each of the 58 county elections offices processes ballots differently, and the distances poll workers must travel from polling places to county offices vary greatly. State law requires county elections officials to send their first batch of results to the Secretary of State's office no more than two hours after they begin tallying the votes after polls close on election day. County elections officials continue to report results periodically on election night until all precinct vote totals have been reported. County elections officials will continue to count ballots for up to 30 days (28 days for presidential delegates and 30 days for all other contests) after election day."

"Vote-by-mail ballots that are received by county elections offices before election day are typically counted on election day. Many more vote-by-mail ballots are dropped off at polling places or arrive at county elections offices on election day. A vote-by-mail ballot is to be counted if received in the elections office no later than 3 days after the election, and it is postmarked on or before election day. Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it takes up to 30 days (28 days for presidential delegates and 30 days for all other contests) for county elections officials to verify voter records and determine if ballots have been cast by eligible voters. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each local elections office uses to tally and report votes."

"The first election results are typically ballots received before election day. Voters may cast ballots up to 29 days before election day. County elections officials may begin opening vote-by-mail ballot envelopes up to ten business days before election day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until all polls close on election day."