SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Secretary of State is set to certify the state’s election results on Friday, nearly two weeks after new state lawmakers took office and days after the state’s newly elected U.S. Senator, Adam Schiff, was sworn in and immediately took his post.
In a virtual news conference with reporters on Wednesday, Weber acknowledged the conflicting deadlines and noted it has been an ongoing issue.
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Weber, who served as an Assemblymember before she was elected Secretary of State, said it’s something her office is discussing with the state legislature now.
Weber said ahead of the legislature’s swearing-in ceremonies on Dec. 2, newly elected lawmakers received a letter from her office stating that they could be sworn in even though the results are not yet certified.
“That was something that was sent out to each one of the houses; that we did not certify the election and that they could be sworn in, but it would mean very little until the certification occurred,” she told reporters. “That’s one of the ongoing challenges that we’re dealing with when what is stated in one document-the state constitution- and then another document- the federal document- and then what is stated by the Legislature when it wants to change something, change dates, times and all those kinds of those things.”
“I’d like to debate this point with her,” Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, posted on X. “The Constitution requires the legislature to convene the first Monday of December. We picked a speaker. Introduced bills, etc. Hard to say it means nothing.”
When asked if there’s anything counties can do to speed up California’s elections process, Weber said in part, “It’s a challenge we face, and we’ll continue to face but we’ll continue to work on it.”
