Bay Area polling stations prepare for flood of late ballots after low early voting numbers

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]California's early voter turnout is just over 16% with 3.8 million ballots turned in so far. Now, low voter turnout in the weeks leading up to the election day could mean a flood of late ballots coming into polling stations across California. Cara Santa Ciera spoke to Bay Area elections officials about how that might impact the counting process.

[00:00:26]>> Here, we've got a bunch of open envelopes. These have all been verified.

[00:00:30]>> If there's one word to describe this year's election season, Marin County Registrar Natalie Adona says it's slow.

[00:00:36]>> I would say that it seems like some people are hanging on to their ballot.

[00:00:41]>> Low turnout has sparked fears of delayed results on election night.

[00:00:44]>> We obviously don't know what our workload is going to be.

[00:00:47]>> But Adona says her department has a plan.

[00:00:50]>> There's a lot of steps. We want to make sure that we get it right.

[00:00:53]>> Each mail-in ballot that's in early will likely be counted before election night.

[00:00:58]If not, Adona says they'll be canvassed alongside in-person votes, which includes checking for signatures, verification, and tabulation.

[00:01:06]>> I look back at past elections in Marin County, and it looks like we got 95% or more of ballots counted by the 10th day after election.

[00:01:16]>> In Santa Clara, the wait for more ballots is still on as polling locations close ahead of the big day.

[00:01:22]>> And we have a a team that will be collecting um these bags that have some of the vote by mail.

[00:01:28]>> Michael Borja, the spokesperson for the Santa Clara Registrar, says turnout in his county has been low, too, but he's expecting an influx on election night.

[00:01:36]>> Majority people vote by mail uh between 90 and 95%.

[00:01:43]>> Borja says the registrar has until 30 days after election day to count all the ballots.

[00:01:48]>> We will continue to count until certification day.

[00:01:51]>> Though he doesn't think it'll come to that, he's prepared, and so is his department.

[00:01:56]Now, election officials say if you still want to use your mail-in ballot tomorrow rather than vote in person, you should use one of these ballot boxes. You could miss the deadline if you try to send it through the mail. And be sure to tune into our special election night coverage tomorrow starting at 8:00 p.m.

[00:02:12]>> [music] >> We will have expert analysis, in-depth reaction, and complete results right here on KPIX.