Topangans by and large voted for Democratic candidates at a rate of roughly 2 to 1. Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of September 2022. According to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, there are 5,614,572 total registered voters in L.A. County. For the Nov. 8 Midterm election, 2,456,701 ballots were cast for a 44 percent turnout countywide. How Topanga Voted! In Topanga, there are 5,422 registered voters in six precincts. Of those, 3,318 cast ballots by mail or voted in person at the Topanga Community Center—which is a 61 percent turnout. Topangans reelected Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom with 2,559 ballots versus 687 ballots for Republican challenger Brian Dahle. Topanga voted for U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla with 2,636 for a full six year-term and 2,626 for his remaining short term. Padilla’s Republican opponent, Mark P. Meuser, received 629 votes and 621 votes, respectively. Democratic U.S. Representative Brad Sherman in the 32nd Congressional District was reelected in Topanga with 2,544 ballots versus 619 votes for Republican candidate, L. Lapointe Volotzky with 619 ballots. As the highest-ranking elected official for Topanga, our new Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath won the seat with 1,852 votes versus 961 votes for Bob Hertzberg. For the 24th State Senate District, Topangans elected Ben Allen with 2,486 votes against 631 votes for his opponent, Kristina Irwin. Canyon residents also favored L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna with 2,266 ballots versus 751 ballots for outgoing Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Finally, Topangans showed their love and support for Scott Houston, who was reelected to the West Basin Municipal Water District Board of Directors with 1,390 ballots versus 882 ballots for his opponent, Sanjay Gaur. Ballots Chain of Custody If anyone is concerned about how ballots are transported and counted to get the final certified results, it is the job of responsible L.A. County employees and an army of dedicated election workers who make that happen. On Election Night, ballots from all 640 Vote Centers throughout the County are brought to the Registrar-Recorder/ County Clerk’s (RR/CC) Tally Operation Center (TOC) in Downey for central tabulation. After the Vote Centers close at 8 p.m., election workers secure the voted ballots in sealed ballot boxes and account for unused ballots. Election workers will also separately package Vote-by-Mail ballots that were dropped off at the Vote Centers and any provisional ballots. All materials and quantities are accounted for in the Official Ballot Statement. Then, Election Workers transport the ballots to designated Check-In Centers located throughout the County. Sheriff’s Deputies will then pick up and transport the voted ballots, with lights and sirens blazing, from the Check-in Centers by car, helicopter or boat to Downey. Ballots come in from as far away as Lancaster, Palmdale and Catalina Island. Between 10:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., a large number of ballots begin to arrive at the RR/CC Tally Operation Center. Prior to tabulation, all ballots must be checked in, removed from boxes, inspected and prepared for counting. Ballots are then moved to the tabulation center in a continuous flow. There, operators load the ballots onto scanners for tabulation. How Ballots are Counted First results are available between 8:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. The first set of results only include Vote-by-Mail ballots returned before Election Day. Second results are available between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m. The second set of results include all ballots cast at a Vote Center from Oct. 29-Nov. 7. Third and recurring results will include ballots cast at a Vote Center on Election Day. Throughout the evening, ballots continue to be securely transported by Los Angeles County Sheriffs to the central Tally Operation Center for counting. Because L.A. County is geographically large, about 4,105 square miles, transporting those ballots takes several hours. After all ballots from the Vote Centers are counted, the County publishes a news release announcing the semi-final results. In a countywide election, there could be hundreds of thousands of ballots left to be counted after Election Night. Post-Election Night results are reported regularly on a set schedule. Why are ballots counted after Election Night? Vote-by-Mail , conditional, and provisional ballots returned on Election Day must be processed and verified before they can be counted and added to the results. Vote-by-Mail Ballots postmarked on Election Day and received within seven days will be accepted. In California, counties have 30 days to process, verify, and count these ballots—this period is known as the Official Election Canvass. The Nov. 8 Midterm Election was certified on Dec. 5. For more information and more details: lavote.gov.