California rejected about 148,000 mail-in primary ballots, Secretary of State data show

California rejected 148,241 mail-in ballots during its June primary, according to data from the California Secretary of State office as reported by The Hill. The rejected ballots represented 1.73 percent of all mail ballots cast in the election.

The Hill reported that the rejected total was the highest in recent election cycles, and that the state’s volume of rejections rose after voters returned ballots close to deadlines. The reporting tied the spike to concerns about how the U.S. Postal Service processed late-postmarked mail, an issue that has been debated in multiple election cycles.

California election procedures require ballots to meet specific eligibility and timing rules. When a mail ballot fails to satisfy the state’s requirements, it can be rejected and not counted toward voter totals, according to standard state ballot handling practices.

The reported figure covers mail-in primary ballots specifically, not in-person voting. California’s primary process relies heavily on mailed ballots, with voters submitting ballots through the mail and the state running a review and acceptance process before counting.

The Hill’s account framed the scale of rejections as noteworthy not only for the number of ballots affected, but also for the timing pattern: a concentration of late-postmarked ballots increased scrutiny of whether postal delivery and processing timelines aligned with election deadlines.

Election administrators and election integrity advocates have previously pointed to postal delivery variability as a driver of ballot rejection risk, while other stakeholders have argued that existing rules are designed to ensure that ballots are handled in a consistent, auditable manner. In the June primary, the state’s final rejected-mail total became part of that ongoing debate.

The next step for voters and election officials in California is to continue monitoring how ballots are postmarked and received relative to the deadlines set under state law, including any operational changes that state and postal officials may make for future elections. The Secretary of State’s office is the central authority for how acceptance and rejection are applied in practice.