Election Day in California — don't expect quick results Play

Today is Election Day, but don't bother staying up late watching election returns.

Some major primary races — here's looking at you, governor candidates — will not likely be called tonight.

California has an emphasis on accuracy, counting every single legally cast ballot, but not speed. Los Angeles County is notorious for slow election counts. And vote by mail gums instant results up.

Mail-in ballots must be inspected and have the signatures cross checked against signatures on file. If they don't match, elections officials must notify that voter and give them an opportunity to fix the problem.

Mail-in ballots can trickle in to the vote center for up to seven days after the election, and they get verified and checked to make sure that they are postmarked on or before election day.

Word to the wise, from a California nonpartisan group: “Expect not to know.”

New polling shows the race remains too close to call. Three separate polls released since last weekend show a tight race between three gubernatorial candidates: Republican Steve Hilton, and Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer, a billionaire climate activist.

The latest poll is from three universities — Long Beach State, Cal Poly Pomona and USC. Becerra leads with 27% of voters. Hilton is at 23%, and Steyer holds 15%.

Polls close at 8 tonight. Expect partial results tomorrow morning, but like we said, it may be weeks.