PRESS RELEASE
PR26-75
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2026
Contact: sospress@sos.ca.gov
California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Announces California Polls Are Now Closed for the June 2, 2026, Primary Election
What to Expect During the California Vote Count Process
Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., just announced that California polls are now closed for the June 2, 2026, Primary Election. County elections officials will work through the night to count ballots.
“On Election Night, we will have a good picture of the outcome of most contests, but it will take weeks to know the final results. This is normal,” Secretary Weber said. “Under the new state law AB 5 (Chapter 250, Statutes of 2025), county elections officials will report the results for most ballots by June 15, 13 days after the election. Some ballots will take counties up to 30 days to count every valid ballot and conduct a post-election audit. California elections officials prioritize the right to vote and election security over rushing the vote count. We have a process that by law ensures both voting rights and the integrity of elections, so I would call on all Californians to be patient.”
Election results will be available at ElectionResults.sos.ca.gov as counties report to the Secretary of State’s office.
After polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, the first election results are typically ballots received before Election Day, which include vote-by-mail ballots and early voting location ballots. County elections officials will process and count provisional ballots, ballots from voters who registered and voted conditionally (Same Day Voter Registration), and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by June 9, 2026. During this time frame, pursuant to state law, county elections officials are also reaching out to voters who did not sign their vote-by-mail ballot return envelopes or whose signatures did not compare to their signature(s) on file in order to allow them to provide or confirm their signatures in order to have their ballots counted.
Under Assembly Bill 5 (Chapter 250, Statutes of 2025) effective this year, counties are required to count and report most ballots by June 15, 2026. Certain ballot types, including provisional ballots, conditional voter registration ballots, signature cure ballots, ballots requiring duplication, ballots forwarded from other counties, and some late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots, are exempt from this deadline. California county elections officials have 30 days from Election Day to process these ballots. County elections officials must finalize all of their official results by July 2, 2026. The Secretary of State will certify the statewide results on July 10, 2026.
Vote Counting Process - FAQs
Who counts ballots in California?
California counties handle the printing, mailing, verifying, and counting of ballots. The Secretary of State’s office does not process ballots. Counties report their election results to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State compiles the results from all counties and provides these results on the Election Results webpage.
What are the first results we will be seeing on Election Night?
The first election results are typically ballots received before Election Day, which include vote-by-mail ballots and early voting location ballots. County elections officials may begin processing vote-by-mail ballot return envelopes and ballots on the day ballots are mailed, which must begin no later than 29 days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until all polls close on Election Day.
Why do some counties show no precincts have reported, yet some votes have been counted?
The first election results reported are typically ballots received before Election Day. County elections officials may begin processing vote-by-mail ballot return envelopes and ballots on the day ballots are mailed, which must begin no later than 29 days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until all polls close on Election Day.
Many county elections officials choose to tally and report these early voted ballots before results come in from precincts, which are sometimes far away from county headquarters. Early voted ballots simply appear as raw vote totals because, in this initial stage, the ballots are not attributed to individual precincts.
Why have some counties not reported any results immediately after the polls close?
Each of the 58 county elections officials process ballots in accordance with their internal procedures, and the distances poll workers must travel from polling places to the offices of county elections officials vary greatly. State law requires county elections officials to send their first batch of results to the Secretary of State’s office no more than two hours after polls close on Election Day. County elections officials continue to report results periodically on Election Night until all precinct vote totals have been reported. County elections officials will continue to count ballots up to 30 days after Election Day.
When are vote-by-mail ballots counted?
Vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day are typically processed and ready to be counted on Election Day. Many more vote-by-mail ballots are dropped off at vote centers, polling locations, ballot drop-off locations, or arrive at county elections offices on Election Day. A mailed vote-by-mail ballot postmarked on or before Election Day is to be counted if received in the county elections office no later than seven days after the election. Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it may take up to 30 days for county elections officials to process, verify, and count vote-by-mail ballots. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each local elections office uses to tally and report votes.
How and when are provisional ballots counted?
In California, provisional ballots serve as a fail-safe method of ensuring all voters who show up to the polls can cast a ballot.
All provisional ballots are carefully checked by county elections officials to confirm that the person who voted provisionally is both registered and that they did not cast a ballot by mail or at another polling location. Due to the additional human review and verification needed for provisional ballots, they are typically counted after Election Day and vote-by-mail ballots.
How and when are Same Day Voter Registrations processed?
Conditional voter registration, also known as Same Day Voter Registration, is a safety net for Californians who miss the deadline to register to vote or update their voter registration information for an election.
Eligible citizens who need to register or re-register to vote within the 14 days preceding an election can complete this process to register and vote at the office of their county elections official, polling place, or vote center. Their ballots will be processed and counted once the county elections official has completed the voter registration verification process and verified that the voter has not already cast a ballot.
How will we know how many ballots remain to be counted?
Two days after the election, counties must provide the Secretary of State an estimate of their remaining unprocessed ballots. The Secretary of State’s office will post this “unprocessed ballots report” online and provide daily updates as new estimates are provided from the county elections officials.
When will the vote counting period end and the election be certified?
Counties must finish counting all ballots and release the vote count for those ballots on or before the 13th day following the election—June 15, 2026. Exceptions to this requirement are:
· Ballots needing duplication.
· Ballots forwarded from other counties.
· Provisional ballots.
· Conditional ballots.
· Vote-by-mail ballots with missing or noncomparable signatures that need to be cured and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received between June 7 and June 9.
Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it may take up to 30 days for county elections officials to verify voter records and determine if ballots have been cast by eligible voters. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each county elections official uses to tally and report votes. County elections officials must finalize their official results by July 2, 2026. The Secretary of State will certify the results on July 10, 2026.
A full calendar for the June 2, 2026, Primary Election (including code and regulation references) can be found at: https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2026-primary/primary-election-calendar.pdf.
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