Could it be because your fingerprints need to go to multiple recipients?
Im totally guessing here .. But .. A) id go with what you said .. electronic is faster .. and B) since it cost more Id suspect they dont get as many L1 applications. So due to the higher # of non-electronic finger prints it just takes them longer to go through them. Possibly a C) would be the amount of time it takes someone to digitize the finger print cards to cross reference the Db. ??
Absolutely correct, L1 is faster. Before the rush, you could get an L1 license back in a couple weeks. Inked fingerprints were about 3 months.