{"id":291666,"date":"2026-04-29T16:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291666\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:34:10","slug":"ca-primary-election-2026-how-late-is-too-late-to-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291666\/","title":{"rendered":"CA primary election 2026: How late is too late to vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"

California is gearing up for the 2026 primary election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

County elections offices will begin mailing ballots<\/a> on Monday, May 4. You can also vote early in person or pick up a ballot at an Early Voting site<\/a>, starting on May 4.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re someone who likes to wait until the last minute \u2014 whether to review candidates or out of habit \u2014 you might be planning to turn in your ballot closer to Election Day.<\/p>\n

How late is too late to mail or drop off your California ballot? Can you still get in line just before polls close?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about the ballot deadline:<\/p>\n

\"Tapanga Tapanga Tayaba, of Sacramento, drops off her ballot at Folsom Lake College on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com When is Election Day in June 2026?<\/p>\n

The 2026 primary election<\/a> is on Tuesday, June 2.<\/p>\n

Voters will cast ballots<\/a> for open seats<\/a> in federal races and key statewide offices including California governor.<\/p>\n

When are voting centers open? When do polls close?<\/p>\n

California voters can return their ballots at an Early Voting site<\/a> starting onMonday, May 4.<\/p>\n

On Election Day \u2014 Tuesday, June 2 \u2014 polls are open<\/a> from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo voters who arrive after the polls<\/a> close may cast votes,\u201d according to the California Secretary of State website.<\/p>\n

At 8 p.m., county elections officials will begin tallying the results<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How late is too late to drop off a ballot in California?<\/p>\n

According to California\u2019s Voter Bill of Rights, you have the \u201cright to vote if you are still in line when the polls close<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a voter is in line to vote when the polls close they have the right to vote<\/a>,\u201d the California Secretary of State\u2019s Office told The Sacramento Bee via email.<\/p>\n

The latest time to get in line is 7:59 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lines will be cut off at 8 p.m.,\u201d the California Secretary of State said.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s still a line when polls close, a poll worker will stand at the end of the line to mark the cutoff<\/a>, according to the California Secretary of State website.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny voter who arrives after the polls have closed may not be allowed to vote<\/a>, even if voters who were in line to vote before the polls closed are in the process of voting,\u201d the California Secretary of State said.<\/p>\n

How late can I mail in my ballot?<\/p>\n

When mailing in your ballot, the California Secretary of State said, the ballot \u201cmust be postmarked on or before Election Day<\/a>\u201d and received no later than seven days after Election Day.<\/p>\n

When can I take my ballot to a drop-off location?<\/p>\n

You can take your mail-in ballot to a drop box or a voting center no later than 8 p.m.<\/a> on Election Day, according to the California Secretary of State website.<\/p>\n

You can find your nearest location<\/a> on the California Secretary of State website.<\/p>\n

\"A A Folsom resident inserts a ballot as she votes at Folsom Lake College on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com Have a question about the 2026 primary election?<\/p>\n

You can ask the California service journalism team by submitting questions directly to our reporters by emailing servicejournalists@sacbee.com<\/a> or by filling out the form<\/a> below.<\/p>\n

We have reporters covering Sacramento, Modesto, Fresno, San Luis Obispo and Merced.<\/p>\n

Loading\u2026<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Angela Rodriguez<\/a><\/p>\n

The Modesto Bee<\/p>\n

Angela Rodriguez is a service journalism reporter for The Bee. She is a graduate of Sacramento State with a bachelor\u2019s degree in journalism. During her time there, she worked on the State Hornet covering arts and entertainment.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California is gearing up for the 2026 primary election. County elections offices will begin mailing ballots on Monday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-291666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}