California voting changes raise concerns for 'Super Tuesday'

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Major changes to the way people vote have election advocates on edge as Californians cast ballots in a high-profile primary that was moved up from June so the state could have a bigger say in picking presidential nominees.

More than 2.7 million of a record nearly 20.7 million registered voters had returned ballots in early voting, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said. California is among several states holding elections on “Super Tuesday," and the state's 415 delegates are a rich prize for the Democrats.

“California is heading into the presidential primary with record voter registration,” Padilla said Friday. “And it’s not too late for Californians who have not yet registered or updated their voter registration."

California's primary also comes amid massive changes aimed at expanding voter participation: new voting equipment, vote centers that are replacing polling places in some counties and expanded same-day voter registration.

Those changes may confuse some voters. The fear is that California will end up with a mess much larger than Iowa, where the Democratic Party could not declare a winner for several days because of problems with a new cellphone app used to collect data from caucus sites, among other blunders.

The results of competitive races, such as the presidential primary, likely won't be known Tuesday. California accepts ballots arriving up to three days after election day and has expanded same-day voter registration, so ballot counting will continue well after Tuesday. There were more than 2 million ballots left to process after the 2016 primary.

Paul Mitchell, vice president of data firm Political Data Inc., expects turnout in California to be around 50%, roughly the same as in the 2016 primary, with most people voting Tuesday. He said there's excitement for the...