Secretary Weber praises election officials and volunteers for their work processing ballots accurately in the nation’s largest election system. 

June 16, 2026 - Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., reminds California that counties are required to count and report most ballots by today, Monday, June 15, 2026. The processing deadline became effective this year under Assembly Bill 5 (Chapter 250, Statutes of 2025), which seeks to speed up vote counting for all statewide elections in some capacity by requiring county elections officials to release the vote counts for ballots by the 13th day after the election with the exception of certain specified types of ballots that require additional processing. 

“In a state as unique as California with the largest population in the nation, this has been a tremendous undertaking, and I share my immense gratitude for the many elections officials, and volunteers who have dedicated their time, energy, and heart to administering this election,” said Secretary Weber. “Their work is not easy, but they do it out of a deep commitment to help voters exercise one of the most important civic duties in our democracy, and it should never be taken for granted.”

Certain ballot types that require additional processing, including provisional ballots, conditional voter registration ballots, signature cure ballots, ballots requiring duplication, ballots forwarded from other counties, and some late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots, are exempt from this deadline. County elections officials who cannot meet today’s deadline for reasons not outlined above must file an extension with the Secretary of State and include the reason for the extension. The Secretary of State and the elections official shall post any extension filing on their respective websites. (Elec. Code, § 15307.) 

California county elections officials have 30 days from Election Day to process their remaining ballots. Election results will change throughout the canvass period as vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots, and other ballots are processed. The frequency of updated results will vary based on the size of each county and the process each county elections office uses to tally and report votes.

County elections officials must report their final results to the Secretary of State by July 3, 2026. The Secretary of State will certify the results by July 10, 2026.   

More information about the official cavass process in California can be found at:  https://dp.electionresults.sos.ca.gov/frequently-asked-questions 

Source: CA. SoS