Los Angeles County prepares for June 2 primary with millions of mail ballots and extensive counting process

Los Angeles County has issued about 9 million mail‑in ballots for the June 2, 2026 statewide primary, but by May 21 only roughly 318,000 had been returned, leaving a large undecided electorate. The county has deployed 645 vote‑center locations, opened in two waves (121 on May 23 and the remainder on May 30), and installed 424 24‑hour ballot drop boxes. Voters can use a “quick check‑in code” to verify registration and reduce wait times.

Ballot processing takes place at a warehouse in City of Industry, about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. After trucks unload, specially trained sheriff’s‑department dogs sniff the ballots for hazardous substances. Workers then sort, verify signatures, inspect for damage and feed the ballots into high‑speed scanners that read up to 60 000 ballots per minute. By Wednesday night the county had processed nearly 1.4 million ballots and still had about 713 000 to count. The counting process runs around the clock, with results posted online after each four‑hour scanning period, and members of the public may observe the operation.