The Guardian by Maanvi Singh Wed 4 Mar 2020
Bernie Sanders was declared the winner in California just moments after polls closed but his final haul of delegates could remain uncertain for days, or even weeks, as election officials tally the millions of provisional votes and mail-in ballots.
And while triumph in the Golden State will help Sanders remain competitive in what has become essentially a two-person race between him and Joe Biden, the eventual delegate math could indicate a decidedly shakier path to the nomination than the Vermont senator expected last week.
Voting on Super Tuesday in Los Angeles county, the state’s most populous, was marked by chaos after a $300m new voting system resulted in hours-long lines that kept people waiting even as midnight approached. Meanwhile, nearly half the state’s ballots still remain uncounted, estimates Paul Mitchell, with the campaign research firm Political Data Inc, which tracks ballots as they are returned.
“It’s like there’s this black box of how many ballots are at the post office right now,†said Mitchell. So far, about 5.3m ballots have been counted, according to Mitchell, just over 50% of the 10m he expects have been cast in this election. “The x-factor really is: do we see some big surging coming with the uncounted ballot results?†he said. “It’s just a huge unknown.â€
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/04/california-primary-bernie-sanders-joe-biden