On June 9th (Tuesday), a week after the California primary election in 2026, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra launched the second phase of his campaign. On the same day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton held a press conference questioning the election and counting system in California.
June 2nd was the deadline for the primary election, but California has to wait until July 10th to confirm the election results, which has raised concerns among the public. The federal authorities in the United States announced on the 5th that they are investigating possible election fraud in California.
On Tuesday morning, Hilton stated at a press conference outside the Los Angeles County Clerk’s office that the election system in California is in urgent need of reform. He believed that the current focus of the problem lies in the enforcement of the law, where election officials failed to thoroughly verify the actual date of completion on the ballots.
California law mandates that all mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day (as evidenced by the postmark) and received at the county clerk’s office within 7 days after Election Day to be considered valid.
Even if the postmark is indiscernible or does not indicate a date, election officials can determine whether to count the ballot based on whether it was received within 7 days or based on the handwritten date on the envelope. Many are concerned that individuals with ill-intentions might exploit this loophole by altering dates to have overdue ballots included in the count.
Hilton pointed out that voting on Election Day is common knowledge, “but under the current system, you can retroactively fill in a date on a mail-in ballot (i.e., write a date prior to Election Day), as counting does not require a postmark to prove you voted on or before Election Day. You can write a date, and the ballot will still be counted.”
He believes that implementing voter ID verification would help restore people’s confidence in the election process. Hilton also called on the Democratic candidate Becerra to support the implementation of voter ID verification.
An initiative regarding California Voter ID has been approved for the ballot on November 3rd, where voters will decide whether future election ballots require identity verification.
As of the 9th, election officials across California are still counting outstanding ballots, and the final results will take several more weeks. Bob Page, the Registrar of Voters for Orange County, stated, “State law prohibits us from certifying the election results before June 26, but that doesn’t mean we can’t complete the counting within a week. While we can finish early, we must wait until the stipulated time.”
Hilton previously described the current pace of vote counting in California as “shameful.” He expressed, “India can count over 640 million ballots in a day. California, however, cannot count fewer than 10 million ballots within a month.”
California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber stated in a recent update on the official website that California has approximately 23 million registered voters, the highest in the country. Accurately counting and processing all valid ballots of eligible voters “takes time.”
Based on the updated data on Tuesday, Becerra leads the gubernatorial race with around 28% of the vote; Hilton ranks second with approximately 25%, and the third-place Democratic candidate Tom Steyer follows closely with around 22%.
Only the top two candidates in terms of vote percentage can proceed to the runoff in November, and the final list is yet to be confirmed.