Is there a difference in the federal and california state election systems?
There is no such thing as a federal election system. Each state runs elections according to laws and procedures that the state sets up. The federal government can (and does) impose requirements on the states (such as anti-discrimination laws), but the federal government does not actually run the polls/counting process/etc. This has been a source of major controversy in recent elections. For example, there is some evidence that John Kerry actually would have won the state of Ohio in 2004 (and hence now be our president) had ‘provisional ballots’ been counted. But, federal law only requires that citizens be allowed to cast provisional ballots. There is no requirement compelling states to actually *count* them. Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (also the state Republican Party chairman) opted to *not* count the provisional ballots, so the outcome in Ohio had he done so is unclear.
