{"id":4148,"date":"2026-07-24T22:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148"},"modified":"2026-07-24T22:14:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T22:14:25","slug":"nearly-150000-california-mail-ballots-rejected-in-june-primary-a-record-high-thanks-to-late-arriving-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

California has become notorious for its\u00a0ponderously slow vote counts\u00a0that can drag on for weeks and sometimes longer, largely the result of multiple changes over the years that were intended to increase turnout but have\u00a0done little\u00a0to achieve that. Among the changes: Every voter receives a mail-in ballot that can arrive at an election office seven days late and still be counted, provided the envelope is postmarked by Election Day.<\/p>\n

Read more The AI boom\u2019s hidden electricity bill \u2014 and why you\u2019re paying it<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet even with that generous weeklong window, the primary driver of the higher rejection numbers is late-arriving ballots, according to data compiled by the secretary of state\u2019s office. Voting experts suspect the main problem is postmarks on ballots that came after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted. The culprit could be U.S. Postal Service changes that might affect the timing of when postmarks are applied.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Late-arriving ballots drove the rejections<\/h4>\n

According to state data,\u00a0\u00a0in the June election, or a rate of 1.73% of all mail ballots.<\/p>\n

In raw numbers, that\u2019s up from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 mail ballots were rejected, or a 1.56% rate. In 2022, 105,818 mail ballots were voided during the primary, or a rate similar to 2024.<\/p>\n

Lateness accounted for 93,479 rejected ballots in June, by far the largest category for disqualifying a ballot. That was up from about 70,000 in the 2022 primary and about 76,000 in the 2024 primary, though turnout in those elections was smaller compared to last June.<\/p>\n

Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan\u00a0California Voter Foundation,\u00a0said the jump in rejected ballots because of lateness is a major concern that \u2014 along with postal procedures \u2014 might also be connected to a late surge in ballots in June. Many voters waited until the final days to make a decision in a wide-open and chaotic race for governor.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBallots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,\u201d Alexander wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

Rejection rates\u00a0, but the growing number of those set aside for lateness compared to recent elections \u201cdoes really demand the question why this is happening,\u201d said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, a nonpartisan research group.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lawmakers concerned about USPS postmark changes<\/h4>\n

In January, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators\u00a0sent a letter\u00a0to the\u00a0U.S. Postal Service, alarmed that mail-processing changes might affect postmark dates for\u00a0mail-in ballots during an election year\u00a0that will determine control of Congress.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Updated agency policy says postmarks might not indicate the first day the Postal Service received the mail, but rather the day it was handled in one of its processing centers. Those centers are increasingly likely to be further away from certain communities because of recent consolidations within the Postal Service, which could further delay postmarks.<\/p>\n

Read more 120 millionaires have signed a letter begging the British government to tax them more: \u2018We can afford it\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Thursday, two Wisconsin Democrats, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Gov. Tony Evers, called on the Postal Service to address delays that caused hundreds of ballots to arrive after Election Day in the state in April. In June,\u00a0a federal judge halted\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0executive order\u00a0that sought to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, California election officials urged voters to send their mail ballots early, warning that Postal Service changes could lead to slower mail service.<\/p>\n

In California, the highest mail ballot rejection rate in June \u2014 3.52% \u2014 was in Tulare County, in the agriculture-heavy Central Valley. It was followed by Alpine County, south of Lake Tahoe, and Merced County, also in the Central Valley, which both notched a 3.36% rejection rate.<\/p>\n

Mismatched signatures and multiple ballots in an envelope<\/h4>\n

Nearly 44,000 ballots were set aside because the voter\u2019s signature didn\u2019t match the one on record with county officials. Over 8,300 ballots were rejected because there was no signature on the returned ballot envelope.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In 743 cases, the voter had already cast a ballot, so the mail ballot was voided. Other reasons for rejection included a ballot being missing from the return envelope, or multiple ballots were sent back in a single envelope.<\/p>\n

The data didn\u2019t break down the uncounted ballots by party registration.<\/p>\n

Florida, Texas and other large population states quickly wrap up vote counting, while California is a national laggard.<\/p>\n

After the June primary, President Donald Trump seized on California\u2019s reputation as the national slowpoke in vote counting\u00a0to renew his long-standing criticism\u00a0of the state\u2019s elections, while the Republican\u2019s Department of Justice\u00a0launched an investigation\u00a0into Los Angeles County\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

There is no indication of any widespread problems with mail voting, which has\u00a0gained in popularity\u00a0among Democrats and Republicans alike. A report by the Brookings Institution published in 2025 found that the number of cases of mail voting fraud was minuscule \u2014 about four cases per 10 million mail ballots.<\/p>\n

Read more Kids don\u2019t \u2018Google it\u2019 anymore. AI chatbots taught them to \u2018search it up\u2019 instead<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts point to USPS postmark changes as a possible cause for the ponderously slow vote counts and even missing or late-arriving ballots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections"],"yoast_head":"\nNearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Experts point to USPS postmark changes as a possible cause for the ponderously slow vote counts and even missing or late-arriving ballots.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148\"},\"wordCount\":860,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Elections\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148\",\"name\":\"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=4148#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Experts point to USPS postmark changes as a possible cause for the ponderously slow vote counts and even missing or late-arriving ballots.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots","datePublished":"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148"},"wordCount":860,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp","articleSection":["Elections"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148","name":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-24T22:14:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e7d22136028fb87b0efb6da17814ee7c.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4148#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nearly 150,000 California mail ballots rejected in June primary, a record high thanks to late-arriving ballots"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}