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FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2018, file photo, Yolanda Jimenez casts her mail-in ballot in at the voting center at the California Museum in Sacramento, Calif. In California, the election doesn't always stop on Election Day and this year, in a string of closely contested U.S. House races, it was only the beginning. A stunning 5 million ballots were counted in the state after the election ended on Nov. 6, some not until several weeks later. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

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FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, voters cast their ballots in the sanctuary of Palisades Lutheran Church in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Election Day. In California, the election doesn't always stop on Election Day and this year, in a string of closely contested U.S. House races, it was only the beginning. A stunning 5 million ballots were counted in the state after the election ended on Nov. 6--some not until several weeks later. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

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FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, potential voters wait in long lines to register and vote at the Los Angeles County Registrar's office in Los Angeles. In California, the election doesn't always stop on Election Day and this year, in a string of closely contested U.S. House races, it was only the beginning. A stunning 5 million ballots were counted in the state after the election ended on Nov. 6, some not until several weeks later. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

GOP suspicion after Democratic sweep in California

By Associated Press East Los Angeles

PUBLISHED 11:18 AM PT May. 09, 2019

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A combination of recent changes in California's election rules have lengthened the ballot-counting process and, some Republicans believe, disadvantaged their party.

A stunning 5 million ballots — more than 40 percent of the overall total — were counted after Nov. 6. In many places, Democrats got a significantly larger portion of the late votes than those counted on Election Day.

Those later votes helped Democrats capture a string of GOP-held U.S. House seats.

The Democratic legislature approved changes allowing any mail-in ballot postmarked by Election Day to be counted up to three business days later.

Another provision allows voters to let anyone drop off their absentee ballots, rather than a family member as previously required. That has opened the door to so-called "ballot harvesting" by campaign operatives.