Some 85-90% of votes cast in San Diego County are typically via mail ballots. There’s a lot of attention paid to the ballot counting process, which the county’s Registrar of Voting says is safe and secure. NBC 7’s Joey Safchik takes us behind the scenes.
Decision 2024: What to Know
- San Diego Voter's Guide: Everything you need to know about voting in the 2024 Presidential Election
- When is the deadline to vote? Election Day is Nov. 5, 2024. For more important dates, click here.
- Where to vote early: Early voting is underway now through Election Day. Starting Nov. 2, more than 200 locations opened for in-person early voting. Find a location here.
- How to vote by mail: Every San Diego County voter receives a ballot in the mail. Fill it out, sign it, and return it at hundreds of drop-off locations across the county.
- Who is on the ballot? Enter your address here to find candidates on the state and national level. Follow NBC 7's Decision 2024 for more on local measures and candidates.
- What propositions are on the ballot? Here are all 10 California ballot propositions for the 2024 election, explained
- Report a problem: Here's how to report incidents at the polls
Even before the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, San Diego County Registrar of Voters workers were busy tallying hundreds of thousands of early votes in the 2024 Presidential Election.
With nearly 2 million ballots sent out across San Diego, it will take some time to get the votes tallied.
The Registrar has released a timeline of when San Diegans can expect the unofficial results to roll in and how long it will take them to fully certify the election. Here's what you should know:
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8 p.m. on Election Day
The first dump of results will come just after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Night. No results will be available before that time. This dump will include mail ballots received before Election Day and results from people who voted at vote centers before Nov. 5.
Get the latest election results here
Local
It's possible the Registrar of Voters could provide another result dump or two on Election Night, but those new numbers will only include results from ballots cast at Vote Centers on Election Day -- not from mail ballots. Poll workers will need time to get the results from more than 200 vote centers to their offices, where all the vote will be counted.
Wednesday
The Registrar's Office is not expected to release results on Wednesday.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
The next batch of results is expected by 6 p.m. daily from Thursday through Saturday.
No new numbers are expected on Sunday.
Nov. 11-15
The Registrar expects to release results by 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the week following the election.
These result drops can include mail ballots still making their way to the Registrar's Office. Ballots postmarked on Nov. 5 have seven days to arrive and be counted, the Registrar said.
Provisional ballots -- ballots for people who registered to vote conditionally -- may also be delayed, since the Registrar needs time to validate their eligibility to vote before counting their ballots.
Additional result dumps are possible on other days when the Registrar deems an update necessary.
Dec. 5
The results are unofficial until the race is certified, which must be done by Dec. 5, 2024. That's when we'll know the true outcome of the 2024 election in San Diego County.
