Bay Area voters kept mailing and dropping off ballots through the final weekend before Tuesday's election. As of Saturday, Oct. 31, 6,018,065 Californians had cast ballots, or 25.66% of the roughly 23.45 million ballots mailed out, according to the Secretary of State's latest ballot status report. That total includes 5,791,054 returned vote-by-mail ballots and 227,011 in-person votes.

Returns by county

  • Marin: 64,654 ballots, 36.81%
  • Sonoma: 114,979, 35.61%
  • Santa Cruz: 53,013, 30.23%
  • San Mateo: 136,057, 30.04%
  • Napa: 26,046, 29.88%
  • Contra Costa: 218,206, 29.57%
  • Santa Clara: 285,940, 26.30%
  • Alameda: 252,208, 25.43%
  • San Francisco: 125,632, 23.15%
  • Solano: 64,036, 22.84%

For comparison, Los Angeles County stood at 20.94%. Marin and San Francisco both gained about four points from the figures we reported in our Oct. 29 county breakdown. Many voters hold their ballots until the last few days, so the final share will be much higher.

Why early results can mislead

CalMatters warns that close races in California often show a “red mirage” on election night, when early tallies favor Republicans, followed by a “blue shift” as more ballots are counted. In 2018, four Republican House candidates in California led on election night but lost once all votes were counted. Experts say the shift reflects when each party's voters return ballots, not fraud.

California's count is slow by design. Mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive up to seven days later, and voters have until the day before Thanksgiving to fix, or “cure,” problems like signature mismatches. Counties only have to count six hours a day, though many count longer. Lawmakers gave counties $29 million this year for equipment and staff, and counties have 30 days to certify results.

Slow counts are “opening the door to election mis- and disinformation,” Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, told CalMatters. Ben Gips of Protect Democracy said the delays “can make it much easier to do that deception.”

For key dates, see our results and certification timeline.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls and vote centers close at 8 p.m., and mailed ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within seven days. You can check your registration and ballot status at sos.ca.gov/elections. California lets you register and vote the same day at a vote center.