Those looking for live voting results from California will have plenty of ways to follow along with the state that could end up ending the 2016 presidential election — and could potentially legalize recreational marijuana at the same time.
In each of the last two presidential elections, it was the closing of polls in California that brought an official end to the race, giving Barack Obama a surge of electoral votes that officially put him over 270. With final presidential polls showing Hillary Clinton in a small but clear lead in a series of battleground states, she will hope to go into California in a similar position to end the race.
That will leave many in the nation looking to the California election live results, especially given the unexpectedly close nature of many of the early results. Though Hillary Clinton was expected to win in Virginia and Florida, Donald Trump led through the first hour of results being tabulated and maintained his lead as the clock crossed 9 p.m. ET on Election Night.
With those races still in doubt, it could be likely that 11 p.m. ET (8 p.m. PT) will roll around without a clear picture of who will be the next president. So those watching the live election results from California may still have to wait a bit longer, even as the state itself won’t take long to call. A link to the state’s full election results can be found below.
There is still another ballot measure with high interest in California. Residents will be voting on Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana in the nation’s largest state.
Legalizing marijuana is up for vote in 5 states: – Maine – Massachusetts – California – Nevada – Arizona pic.twitter.com/uGrxa7Xh2t
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 8, 2016
As CBS News pointed out, this will be an important race for legalization advocates nationwide as it could give a major boost to other efforts to decriminalize marijuana.
“If California votes ‘yes,’ recreational cannabis would be legal along the entire West Coast, giving the legalization movement powerful momentum. That could spark similar efforts in other states and put pressure on federal authorities to ease longstanding rules that classify marijuana as a dangerously addictive drug with no medical benefits.”
There is already high hope nationwide that California will pass its marijuana legalization proposition, with marijuana-related stocks starting to tick upward ahead of Election Day.
https://twitter.com/wowNewsitems/status/796157170916229121
While the race for presidency in California is likely to have little drama, there are a number of close races on a statewide basis that could have some added intrigue because of some curious timing. As the Los Angeles Times noted, state election officials are required to count any mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Tuesday and received within three days. But with Friday being Veteran’s Day and no mail delivery, and with government offices closed on the weekend, it will be a full six days before all the ballots are counted for some close races.
“Because the third day is a federal holiday, it rolls to Monday,” Sam Mahood, spokesman for the California Secretary of State’s office, told the Los Angeles Times .
With tensions rising high leading into Election Night, President Barack Obama has offered a calm voice of reason. In an address to the nation on Tuesday, he called on all Americans to come together around the results of the 2016 presidential election.
“Whether your chosen candidates win or lose tonight, let’s all agree, not only to stay engaged, but to push ourselves to do even better,” he said, adding, “no matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning.”
Those who want to find full election results from California can find up-to-date voting totals for both presidential and statewide races along with California’s marijuana legalization measure from KRCA . The Los Angeles Times will also be publishing live updates from throughout Election Night.
[Featured Image by David McNew/Getty Images]