Nearly 150,000 mail ballots rejected in California’s primary despite efforts to count every vote

AP News ^ | July 24, 2026 | Michael R. Blood

[Angelino97]

Nearly 150,000 California voters had their mail-in ballots rejected for the state’s June primary, a spike from recent elections even as the state attempts to make voting easier with the goal of boosting participation and counting every ballot.

California has become notorious for its ponderously slow vote counts that 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 done little to 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.

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’s 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.

According to state data, 148,241 mail ballots were rejected in the June election, or a rate of 1.73% of all mail ballots.

In raw numbers, that’s 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.

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.

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TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: apfakenews; fakenews; mailinballots; michaelrblood; stopthesteal

[Bobbyvotes]

Rejected in primary to select nominee the party wants.
In general all ballots will be accepted if for a democrat.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“despite efforts to count every vote”

Somebody should tell author Michael Blood that a ballot is not a vote unless it is a legal and legally submitted ballot

[simpson96]

“...even as the state attempts to make voting easier with the goal of boosting participation”

Easier.

More participation.

I’m not getting the sense of accuracy or security being anywhere on the list.

[simpson96]

“Somebody should tell author Michael Blood that a ballot is not a vote unless it is a legal and legally submitted ballot”

A cursory look at several of his recent articles for the AP tells me he’s all-in for whatever Dems want.

I’m pretty sure it’s a requirement to work for the AP.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“The culprit could be U.S. Postal Service”

Such BS. The “culprit” is the lazy voter who didn’t mail his or her ballot early enough to guarantee it arrives on time. Or just go to the polling place and vote in person on Election Day.

This isn’t rocket surgery.

The Dems are always yammering about “our democracy.” Well, that requires responsible citizens who follow the rules and get their ballots submitted on time. Guess they don’t really care about “our democracy” that much if they cannot do that simple chore.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Let me guess all the votes were for Pratt am I right

[Does so]

Does LA have a Mayor yet?

[equaviator]

"Every voter receives a mail-in ballot that can arrive at an election office seven days late"

Even legitimately completed ballots should be disqualified if they arrive at an election office seven days late. Late deliveries can be due to gross incompetence, but that doesn't preclude rampant election fraud because when deadlines become meaningless, nothing is too late to be counted or disqualified.

[Vaduz]

Mmail-in ballots get filtered before passed on Jim it’s California.

[Regulator]

“attempts to make voting easier”

Whatta Laff.

They make everything sound like it’s still Jim Crow in the South.

KKK ridin’ down the streets of Anaheim! Literacy tests! Aaaaaah!

Everyone in California is automatically registered to vote when you get a drivers license and that includes the illegal alien drivers license which is what everyone gets now UNLESS you get the Real ID version...which requires proof of lawful residency and actual proof of state residency.

To NOT be registered you have to actually SAY that on the form.

So the banty little corrupt Pilipino can run his carnival show because that’s all it is. Maybe he should go home to Manila and try to be Marcos II.

[libertylover]

with the goal of boosting participation and counting every ballot.

They mean counting every ballot marked for a Democrat.

[bobbo666]

CaCaLand has routinely, for decades, counted every ballot so long as it favored the DNC. Now, with some folks watching the illegals’ votes are spotted.

The entire system is as reliable as anything out of Fauci’s mouth.

[Sarah Barracuda]

Yeah they screwed Pratt over so its either going to be Bass the Ghana fleeing murdering ass or Raman, who is equally a moron ..they made sure that Pratt didnt get through, he was the biggest threat and the local media couldnt have been more thrilled, yeah cause none of them actually live in LA and have to deal with the dreck