California rejected nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots during its June primary, the highest total in recent election cycles, as a surge in late-postmarked ballots sparked concerns about changes to U.S. Postal Service processing.
According to data from the California secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail ballots — or 1.73 percent of all mailed ballots cast — were rejected in the state’s June primary, up from roughly 109,000 rejected ballots in the 2024 primary and up from about 106,000 in the 2022 primary.
More than 93,000 ballots were disqualified because they were deemed late, making timeliness the most common reason the ballots were rejected. That number was up from roughly 76,000 in the 2024 primary and up from about 70,000 in 2022.
California accepts mailed ballots that arrive up to seven days after an election day, but only if they are postmarked by an election day.
California election officials urged voters before the election to mail ballots well before the June primary to avoid potential postal delays. In January, several Democratic senators also warned that Postal Service mail processing changes could affect postmark dates for mail-in ballots.
Signature issues were another common reason for the rejected ballots. Nearly 44,000 ballots were discarded because signatures on the ballots did not appear to match the voter’s registration record, and more than 8,000 lacked a required signature on the return envelope.
Hundreds of additional ballots were also rejected because the voter had already cast a ballot or because of problems with the ballot envelope.
These latest figures have been released amid mounting scrutiny over California’s election system, which already faces criticism for lengthy vote counts because the state accepts eligible ballots for days after an election day and conducts extensive signature verification.
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