The California governor’s race remained unsettled Thursday, as state election officials continued to sift through uncounted primary ballots – a process that could take days or even weeks as voters eagerly await the results.

Polls indicated that British-born conservative pundit Steve Hilton was narrowly leading the race, followed by former US human services and health secretary Xavier Becerra. Billionaire Tom Steyer trailed behind the pair. Under California’s primary system, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election.

The question of which two will face off in November may be unanswered for weeks, according to election officials. Per state law, California counties must finish counting ballots by 15 June, but certain ballots are exempt from that deadline. For example, mail-in ballots postmarked by election day and received by 9 June are valid and can be processed beyond the deadline.

An estimate of the number of remaining unprocessed ballots is expected on Thursday. Faced with a crowded slate of gubernatorial contenders, many Democratic voters held on to their mail-in ballots up until election day as they weighed which candidate had the best chance of reaching one of the top two slots.

The ongoing tabulation also did not stop Donald Trump from declaring victory for his favored candidate.

“Congratulations to Steve Hilton on coming in first, last night, in the California Vote for Governor,” he wrote in a Wednesday Truth Social post. “If Californians are smart, which I know they are, they will put Steve into the Governor’s Mansion, and watch their State get better at a rate that has probably never been seen before.”

Meanwhile, Becerra appeared in high spirits at a watch party on Tuesday night. He likened himself to an underdog, alluding to his more modest odds at the start of the race and challenger Antonio Villaraigosa’s call for him to drop out.

“It is the people – only the people – who get the last word,” he said to supporters. “While I take nothing for granted, there are lots of ballots left to be counted, it appears that we are on track to advance to November.”

Steyer’s team, acknowledging his position behind Hilton and Becerra in early returns, urged patience with the vote-counting process.

“There’s still a lot that remains to be seen and we’re going to give democracy time to work,” Steyer campaign manager Heather Hargreaves wrote in a Wednesday letter to supporters.

As the slow voting process continues to play out, some conservative commentators have promoted unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. Mail-in ballots, which tend to skew Democratic, have been subject to Republican criticism, while Trump has issued an executive order aiming to curb their use nationally.

After polls closed on Tuesday, the California secretary of state, Shirley Weber, issued a statement asking voters to exercise patience. “California elections officials prioritize the right to vote and election security over rushing the vote count,” she said.