Election officials in California rejected approximately 150,000 mail-in ballots during the state's June primary election, according to data released by the Secretary of State's office. This total represents roughly 2% of the nearly 7 million mail ballots cast in the election. The volume of rejected ballots is higher than in previous primary cycles, a trend officials attribute partly to the state's transition to a system where every registered voter is mailed a ballot.
The primary reason for rejection was late arrival, with approximately 70,000 ballots failing to reach election offices within the required seven-day grace period following Election Day. California law requires ballots to be postmarked by Election Day to be eligible for counting. Other common reasons for rejection included missing signatures or signatures that electoral officials determined did not match the records on file.
Under California's "ballot curing" process, election officials are required to notify voters if their signature is missing or does not match and provide them with an opportunity to correct the issue. Despite these notifications, many ballots remained uncounted. Advocacy groups have cited these figures as evidence of the need for improved voter education, while election officials noted that the rejection rate is consistent with the increased volume of mail voting nationwide.