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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on November 15, 2022 in an Instagram post: Photo shows “ballots not counted in California and this is only one polling location. Yet Gavin Newsom was declared governor minutes after polling stations closed.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-false/6a6ef6075c162fdccf5eb960e683dcd1.jpg.\\") ![\\"barely- true\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Elections * Facebook Fact-checks * California * Viral image ![\\"Ciara](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke November 17, 2022 # Photo of bagged ballots in California isn’t evidence of misconduct, contrary to claims #### If Your Time is short * This photo was taken at Los Angeles County’s facility for processing and verifying mail-in ballots. After ballots are processed and verified there, they’re moved to the county’s central location for tallying votes. This image is not evidence of fraud; it depicts part of the election process. * California is still counting ballots and has not yet certified winners in its elections. * News organizations have called the governor’s race for Gov. Gavin Newsom. The Associated Press makes such a call after determining there’s no viable path to victory for trailing candidates. See the sources for this fact-check The Associated Press called California’s gubernatorial election for incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom on Nov. 8, just minutes after the polls closed. Newsom won by a large margin over his Republican opponent, but recent social media posts have suggested that his victory was fraudulent. \"Look at all of those ballots not counted in California and this is only one polling location,\" one tweet said. \"Yet Gavin Newsom was declared governor minutes after polling stations closed.\" An image in the tweet shows about a couple dozen gray duffel bags on the ground behind several people standing around folding tables bearing white boxes. \"@gavinnewsom selected, not elected,\" said the caption on one Instagram post sharing a screenshot of the tweet. It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.) The original tweet claims the image was taken at South El Monte Library in Los Angeles County on Nov. 10. But Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for the county registrar’s office, told PolitiFact the picture was not taken there. The image doesn’t show a polling place; the photo was taken nearly 4 miles away at the county’s vote-by-mail operation center in Industry, Sanchez said. That is where all absentee ballots are processed and verified before they’re moved to the county’s central vote-counting facility in Downey. The bags in the photo contained absentee ballots that were deposited in drop boxes on Election Day and then collected by election workers. After being processed and verified, they are moved to Downey to be tallied, a process that continues during the election canvassing period, Sanchez said. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on July 23, 2024 in a Threads post As of July 23, 2024, “Trump has announced he won’t debate Kamala Harris.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Mia Penner • July 24, 2024 Sanchez noted that the county hasn’t declared Newsom the winner; news organizations like The Associated Press made the call based on the county’s unofficial election results. Those results are scheduled to be certified Dec. 5 after all eligible votes are tallied, Sanchez said. The Associated Press, which called the race for Newsom \"minutes after the California polls closed\" on election night, calls races once it \"is fully confident a race has been won — defined most simply as the moment a trailing candidate no longer has a path to victory.\" As of Nov. 17, the secretary of state’s office estimated that 1.7 million ballots were still unprocessed in California. \"It typically takes weeks for counties to process and count all of the ballots,\" the office’s website said. \"Election officials have approximately one month to complete their extensive tallying, auditing, and certification work (known as the official canvass.)\" As of Nov. 17, with all 25,554 precincts in California \"partially reporting\" their results, Newsom had about 5.4 million votes, or 59%, while state Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, had about 3.8 million votes, or 41%. Dahle conceded on Nov. 9. Our ruling The Instagram post claims that the photo shows uncounted ballots in California at a polling location and suggests that this is evidence of fraud, because Newsom was declared the governor shortly after polls closed. Several points are wrong here. The photo was taken at a county facility where election workers were processing and verifying absentee ballots. They were uncounted, because they had not yet been moved to the county’s central location for tallying votes. This process typically takes weeks, and it’s not evidence of fraud, as this post suggests. The Associated Press — not the state of California, which was still counting ballots as we wrote this fact-check — declared Newsom the winner after the polls closed. The Associated Press calls winners in races when it concludes there’s no way a trailing candidate can mount a successful comeback and clinch the race. California is expected to certify its election results Dec. 5, after all eligible ballots have been counted. The statement in the post contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so we rate it Mostly False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Instagram post, Nov. 15, 2022 Tweet, Nov. 10, 2022 The Associated Press, How we call races, visited Nov. 17, 2022 The Associated Press, Democrat Gavin Newsom wins reelection for governor in California, Nov. 8, 2022 The Associated Press, California’s Newsom wins 2nd term, is White House run next?, Nov. 8, 2022 California secretary of state, Unprocessed Ballots Status, visited Nov. 17, 2022 California secretary of state, Estimated Unprocessed Ballots for the November 8, 2022, General Election, visited Nov. 17, 2022 California secretary of state, Governor - Statewide Results, visited Nov. 17, 2022 The Sacramento Bee, Californians fear the economic worst + Newsom gets new second-term staff + Dahle concedes, Nov. 10, 2022 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Ciara O\'Rourke slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on July 12, 2024 in an Instagram post: “Police found human remains and evidence of cannibalism” at Oprah Winfrey’s home. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 3, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Michael Jordan rejects $400 million Disney offer, stating, ‘I do not collaborate with companies aligned with woke ideologies.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on July 31, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Scientists at Exeter University have reconstructed this 3D model of how Moses might have looked.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 17, 2024 in a Facebook post: Video shows former President Donald Trump thought he was in North Carolina while he spoke in Pennsylvania. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 22, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 19, 2024 in a Threads post: “PA Gov Josh Shapiro isn’t attending the DNC at all.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 21, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 19, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Travis Kelce kneels during national anthem fined $10 million and thrown out of the game.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 21, 2024 ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on August 19, 2024 in an X post: Democrats dyed the “Chicago River red to celebrate abortion.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 14, 2024 in a Facebook post: Actor Mel Gibson told talk show host Oprah Winfrey, “You sell children!” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 19, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 7, 2024 in an Instagram post: Says Elon Musk posted on X, “Any harassment of Trump supporters using the term ‘weird’ will be punished.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 15, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on August 10, 2024 in a Threads post: Video shows former President Donald Trump freezing up. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 14, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 8, 2024 in a Facebook post: Says Minnesota Gov. 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Photo shows ballots not counted in California and this is only one polling location Yet Gavin Newsom was declared governor minutes after polling stations closed