Why California Elections Take Weeks to Finalize

This Friday, Benjamin Ginsberg offers a comprehensive overview of election processes and safeguards in California; an FAQ article from Hoover’s California Decides initiative explains why recall elections occur more frequently in the Golden State than in many others; and a panel of distinguished scholars discusses Thomas Sowell’s academic legacy and role as an iconic public intellectual over many decades. 

California Decides

How California Elections Work

How do California elections actually work? In this comprehensive California Decides video explainer, Distinguished Visiting Fellow Benjamin Ginsberg breaks down who runs the state’s elections, how ballots are counted, why results can take weeks to finalize, and what safeguards are built into the process. Ginsberg also examines debates over voter ID, mail-in ballot deadlines, ballot collection, voter eligibility, poll watchers, and the trade-offs between access, security, accuracy, and speed. This video presents the facts and context you need to better understand California’s election system ahead of the 2026 election. Watch here.

Why So Many Recalls in California?

A new FAQ article from the California Decides initiative explores what recall elections are and why California seems to have so many of them. A recall petition can be added to the ballot in order to remove an elected official before their term ends. This mechanism arrived in the same 1911 progressive reform package that created California’s ballot initiative process. To qualify for the ballot, a gubernatorial recall petition needs signatures exceeding 12 percent of the total votes cast in the last election for that office. This is among the lowest thresholds in the country for triggering a recall. As this article explains, recalls are rare but memorable. Only two gubernatorial recalls have ever reached the ballot: Gray Davis in 2003, who was recalled, and Gavin Newsom in 2021, who was retained. Read more here.

The Thomas Sowell Legacy

Thomas Sowell: Intellectual Thought Leader

What makes Senior Fellow Thomas Sowell an enduring intellectual leader?

The Big Idea: In the latest episode of The Sowell Legacy, Harvard economics professor Roland Fryer, Hoover Research Fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray reflect on the ideas and example that have defined Sowell’s influence. The scholars also explore why his work continues to resonate with new generations. Watch or listen here.

Higher Education

Reclaiming Liberal Education in America

In American colleges and universities, are tomorrow’s leaders receiving an intellectual grounding in the diversity of thought that reflects a free society?

The Big Idea: In conversation with Distinguished Policy Fellow Bill Whalen on Matters of Policy & Politics, Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz shares insights from his forthcoming book, Reclaiming Liberal Education in America, and argues that all is not lost in higher ed. Universities are being held accountable for their misdeeds, Berkowitz argues, and there are scholars in the academic pipeline who dare to think differently. Watch or listen here.

Health Care Policy

Hoover Convenes Experts to Propose Medicare Budget Options

The Hoover Institution’s Healthcare Policy Working Group and the Fiscal Policy Initiative co-hosted a two-day conference on August 17 and 18. They brought together budget analysts, health economists, practicing physicians, and congressional staff to examine options for reducing Medicare’s growing impact on the federal budget. The discussion focused on targeted Medicare budget options that would reduce federal deficits while maintaining quality and coverage for seniors. Medicare’s draw on general revenue—meaning its funding that does not come from payroll taxes, premiums, or beneficiary cost sharing—now costs taxpayers roughly $600 billion a year and will approach $1 trillion within the next decade. Read more here.