[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 96 (Monday, June 8, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3915-H3916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      STILL WAITING IN CALIFORNIA

  (Mr. Kiley of California was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, we had an election in 
California last Tuesday. It is now the following Monday, and the State 
still has millions of votes to count.
  How can this be? Nothing like this happens in any other State in the 
country or, for that matter, any other democratic country in the world. 
California's absurdly slow, glacial vote counting has been the subject 
of broad, sweeping bipartisan criticism.
  The Washington Post's editorial board called it a national 
embarrassment. The New York Times' editorial board said that 
California's elections are something out of the pre-telegraph era.
  How does the State justify this process of taking a month to count 
votes? They generally offer two excuses.
  First, they say that California is a really big State. The problem 
with that argument is that this doesn't come as a surprise every 
election that we have a lot of people. Maybe you should prepare for 
that. There are other big States in the United States that manage to 
count their votes on election night, and there are other, much larger 
countries around the world, like India, that manage to count their 
votes a lot more quickly than California does.
  The second excuse you get is that California is just trying to make 
sure that every vote is counted and that the people have every possible 
means of participating. Throughout my time in office, I have supported 
measures to make voting as accessible to folks as possible, but that 
has nothing to do with taking a month to count votes.
  As a matter of fact, if you look at the nonpartisan Elections 
Performance Index, California ranks 41 out of 50. This measures things 
like the share of voter turnout, voter registration, transparency, and 
so forth. California not only has the slowest elections. It actually 
tends to perform worse across every metric than the rest of the country 
does.
  Make no mistake, this is an attempt to cloak administrative 
incompetence under a disguise of false civic virtue. The consequences 
for our democracy should not be understated. When we take weeks and 
weeks to count votes, with the results often changing based upon what 
they were on election night, it fosters distrust in the entire process.
  It also creates great instability, as people don't know and the 
representatives themselves don't know who will be their school board 
member, county supervisor, city councilor, State legislator, or Member 
of Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I have introduced, along with my colleagues from 
California here in the House, the Election Results Accountability Act, 
which says, very simply, that California needs to get its act together. 
California needs to count votes in a timely manner and give folks 
results in a timely manner and in a way that should be expected of a 
well-functioning democratic society.


                      Recognizing Sonbol Aliabadi

  Mr. KILEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and 
congratulate Sonbol Aliabadi, the longtime executive director for the 
Sierra College Foundation, on her retirement at the end of May 2026.
  Throughout her 22-year tenure, Sonbol aided the foundation in 
expanding access and opportunity for Sierra College students by 
mobilizing more than $22 million in community support funds and 
awarding nearly $7 million in scholarships, as well as by delivering on 
many other major initiatives.
  Sonbol's contributions reduced barriers, enabling more students to 
enroll and continue their education, and strengthened the Sierra 
College community.

[[Page H3916]]

  Under Sonbol's leadership, the foundation has helped launch a variety 
of student support programs, such as the Veterans Success Center, the 
Student Assistance Fund Endowment, the Basic Needs Center, the Guardian 
Scholars Program, and more. Earlier this year, the program Endow-a-Bed 
launched under Sonbol's leadership, providing free room and board for 
10 students in the school's new student housing.
  The foundation has also worked to fund educational and 
extracurricular opportunities for students, such as the Sierra College 
Athletics Program and career and technical education programs. 
Moreover, they have helped provide services to students with 
intellectual and developmental disabilities and have supported programs 
that embrace a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the 
school.
  Valued by so many, Sonbol is known for her leadership and guidance in 
the foundation. Her passion for supporting students on their 
educational journey encourages those around her to put students first, 
as she does. Her devoted efforts have made a lasting difference in the 
lives of countless Sierra College students and have contributed to the 
growth and success of the school.
  As a former educator, I have appreciated the opportunity to work with 
Sonbol since my time in elected office. It is a true honor to represent 
such inspirational and effective community leaders like Sonbol.
  Therefore, on behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I 
am honored to join the community in celebrating Sonbol Aliabadi's 
successful career and service to the Sierra College community over the 
past two decades, and I wish her the very best in her next chapter.

                          ____________________