California election officials are facing renewed questions about the state’s vote-by-mail system after nearly 150,000 mail ballots were rejected during the June primary election, fueling fresh concerns about election administration in a state that already faces criticism for lengthy vote counting.
According to figures released by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail ballots were ultimately rejected during the primary. That represents 1.73% of all returned mail ballots, an increase from the 108,982 ballots—or 1.56%—that were rejected during the state’s 2024 primary election.
The growing number of rejected ballots comes despite years of legislative changes intended to expand voting access and reduce the number of ballots thrown out. Instead, election officials are now trying to determine why thousands more voters had their ballots rejected.
