California rejected 148,241 vote-by-mail ballots from its June 2, 2026 statewide primary, according to a Secretary of State report dated July 7. The number amounts to 1.73% of returned mail ballots and gives voters a clear warning before the next contest: timing and envelope details matter as much as filling out the ballot.
The biggest rejection category was not a candidate choice or a party dispute. The state report lists 93,479 ballots as not received on time, far more than any other reason. Associated Press reported Friday that the spike has drawn concern from voting experts because California already allows mail ballots to count if they are postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days.
What changed
The official statewide report shows 8,581,200 vote-by-mail ballots were returned in the primary and 8,432,968 were accepted. The rejected-ballot count was higher than the 108,982 rejected in the 2024 primary and 105,818 rejected in the 2022 primary, AP reported.
Late ballots made up nearly two-thirds of the June rejections. Signature issues were the next major problem: 43,977 ballots were rejected because the signature did not match the one on file, and 8,313 were rejected because the return envelope had no voter signature. The report also lists smaller categories, including voters who had already cast a ballot, missing ballots from envelopes and multiple ballots returned in one envelope.
Where the rejection rates were highest
The statewide rejection rate was 1.73%, but the county figures varied. The report listed Tulare County at 3.52%, Alpine and Merced counties at 3.36%, San Luis Obispo County at 3.34%, and Stanislaus County at 3.07%. Los Angeles County had the largest raw count, with 24,807 rejected mail ballots out of more than 1.85 million returned.
What voters can do next
California voters can reduce the risk by returning mail ballots early, using an official drop box or vote center close to the deadline, and signing and dating the return envelope. The Secretary of State says voters can also sign up for Where's My Ballot alerts to see when a ballot is mailed, received, counted, or flagged for a problem.
The practical takeaway is simple: do not wait for the final mail pickup if there is a drop box or vote center nearby, and do not seal the envelope before checking the signature line. If a ballot has a problem, the county status tools are the fastest way to see whether there is still time to fix it.
