Nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots from California voters were rejected in the state’s June primary, marking a rise from past elections. The state aims to simplify voting to enhance participation and ensure every ballot counts. Despite these efforts, California’s slow vote counts continue, often stretching for weeks. This is due to changes made to increase voter turnout, such as allowing ballots to arrive up to seven days late if postmarked by Election Day. However, late-arriving ballots remain the top reason for rejections, based on data from the secretary of state’s office.
Voting experts suggest that the main issue could be ballots postmarked after Election Day, rendering them ineligible. Changes within the U.S. Postal Service potentially affect when postmarks are applied, contributing to the problem. In the June election, 148,241 mail ballots were rejected, making up 1.73% of all mail ballots. This is higher than the 2024 primary, where 108,982 ballots were rejected at a 1.56% rate. In 2022, 105,818 ballots were voided with a similar rejection rate as 2024.
Late postmarks accounted for 93,479 rejected ballots in June, the largest disqualification category. This was an increase from about 70,000 in 2022 and 76,000 in 2024 primaries.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, expressed concern about the rise in rejections due to lateness, suggesting postal procedures and a rush of last-minute ballots might be factors. Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, highlighted the growing issue of late ballots, questioning the reasons behind the trend.
Concerns About USPS Postmark Changes
In January, U.S. senators, mostly Democrats, raised alarms about mail-processing changes and their effect on postmark dates for mail-in ballots. Updated Postal Service policy indicates that postmarks may represent the day mail is processed rather than when it’s first received. Consolidations within the Postal Service mean processing centers might be further away, leading to delays.
Voters were urged to send ballots early due to potential delays in mail service. In June, a federal judge stopped a Trump executive order targeting mail voting restrictions.
Rejection Reasons Beyond Lateness
California’s highest mail ballot rejection rate in June was 3.52% in Tulare County. Alpine and Merced Counties each saw a 3.36% rejection rate. Beyond lateness, ballots were rejected for reasons like mismatched signatures and missing signatures on envelopes. Nearly 44,000 ballots lacked signature matches, and over 8,300 had no signature. Some voters had already cast a ballot, leading to about 743 mail ballots being voided. Other rejections occurred when the ballot was missing from the return envelope or multiple ballots were in one envelope.
California is often criticized for prolonged vote counting. After the June primary, former President Donald Trump highlighted the state’s slow process. However, a Brookings Institution report in 2025 found only about four cases of mail voting fraud per 10 million ballots, emphasizing the rarity of fraudulent mail voting.
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