Goal of higher voter turnout remains elusive in California as changes have extended ballot counting
Turnout reached 40.8% in the June primary, but California’s mail-ballot system and signature checks have stretched counting into weeks.
- California's June 2 primary concluded with turnout at 40.8%, an increase over the previous two primaries but well below historic levels, with counties required to complete counting by Thursday.
- Mail ballot procedures requiring signature verification and accepting ballots postmarked by Election Day extend processing timelines significantly, forcing officials to spend weeks verifying voter identities and matching signatures before final tallies.
- The California Voter Foundation found ballots counted within two days of Election Day dropped from 81% in 2004 to 66% in 2024, tracking the state's expansion of mail voting across 23 million registered voters.
- After the primary, Trump renewed criticism of California's elections while the Republican's Department of Justice launched an investigation into Los Angeles County; the state allocated $29 million to accelerate counting.
- Despite the Voter Choice Act aiming to boost turnout, a 2025 study found "turnout did not consistently improve or worsen for any racial or ethnic group," with whites overrepresented among likely voters and Latinos underrepresented.
42 Articles
42 Articles
Associated Press News
Goal of higher voter turnout remains elusive in California as changes have extended ballot counting
California has enacted many changes over the years that were intended to boost voter turnout. But there hasn't been significant improvement in participation and those changes are largely responsible for the state’s tediously slow ballot counting today.
California is finally approaching the end of its June 2 primary ballot count, a tediously slow process that is largely due to multiple changes made over the years in order to increase participation, facilitating and making voting more accessible. State data and experts studying voting trends suggest that these efforts have failed to achieve a significant improvement in participation, even though the long-standing California count has targeted Pr…
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