More Than 21 Percent of California Voters Have Cast Ballots

A voter places her ballot into a voting ballot drop box at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Norwalk, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2024. Sophie Li/The Epoch Times

More than one-fifth of California’s registered voters have cast ballots by mail or in person Oct. 29, according to state and local election officials.

The deep blue state mailed out a ballot to every active registered voter—a total of more than 22.8 million—starting on Oct. 7.

As of Tuesday, nearly 4.7 million of those ballots—or about 21 percent—were returned by mail, drop box, or other means and accepted, the California Secretary of State’s office reported.

Another 74,294 people cast in-person ballots at voting locations that were accepted.

More than 5 million registered voters also signed up for the state’s ballot tracking service by Tuesday, called “Where’s My Ballot.” The program sends notifications about vote-by-mail ballots by email, text, or voice call.

“Ballot tracking is available statewide, and we are seeing an incredible adoption rate,” Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement Tuesday.

California counties were also preparing to open thousands of polling locations statewide starting Nov. 2.

A smaller number of in-person vote centers opened in 29 counties throughout California on Oct. 26 and will remain open until the election. A few select voting locations opened starting on Oct. 7.

California allows all voters to choose whether to return their mailed ballots or vote in person at a polling location. Ballots are allowed to be returned at drop boxes, designated drop-off locations, vote centers, mail, and fax.

People arrive to cast their ballots at the Shasta County Clerk Registrar of Voters offices in Redding, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2024. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

The state also allows voters to authorize someone to return their ballot for them, as long as the person isn’t paid on a “per ballot basis.”

The state is also working with counties to make sure they have all available options to return ballots, California’s Secretary of State Spokesman Jordan Reilly told The Epoch Times via email.

“Based on this work with the counties, the [Secretary of State] determines if there are any new return methods that may need to be established as standard options in the future,” he said.

However, mistakes still sometimes happen. Two counties—Humboldt and Ventura—had listed 100 ballots returned in the “other” category. Those were miscategorized in the state’s report, according to local officials.

“They were actually received by mail, and this should be reflected accurately in ongoing reports,” Humboldt County Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters Juan Cervantes told The Epoch Times.

Ventura County registrar’s office confirmed the same mistake had been made in that county.

Some ballots are also rejected as undeliverable, or are canceled because the voter is dead or they were not intended to be cast, according to Reilly.

“The California Secretary of State regularly collaborates with each of California’s counties to ensure the accuracy of [vote-by-mail] ballot return data,” he said.

Election workers prepare vote-by-mail ballots at the Los Angeles County Registrar vote-by-mail operation center in City of Industry, California, on November 4, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Voter Statistics

According to the latest numbers from the California Secretary of State issued Sept. 6, out of 22.3 million registered voters, nearly 10.3 million were registered Democrat—about 46 percent—and more than 5.5 million were Republican—around 25 percent.

Both Democratic and Republican voters increased slightly compared to 2020, while the percentage of Democrats fell slightly and the percentage of Republicans marginally increased.

The number of independent voters who registered with no party preference was nearly 4.9 million, or about 23 percent. Independent voters this year declined slightly compared to 2020.

Voters that registered with other, smaller parties reached 1.6 million, or about 7.2 percent of the voting population.

During the last presidential election in 2020, the state tallied a record number of ballots cast. Of the state’s 22 million registered voters, nearly 81 percent returned mailed ballots or voted in person, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

California was the eighth state to institute a permanent program for universal distribution of vote-by-mail ballots in September 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, states that mail a ballot to every registered voter see voter turnout increase by around 4 percent or more on average.