Even before the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, San Diego County Registrar of Voters workers are busy telling the results of the 2024 California Primary Election.
With more than 1.9 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 results to roll in and how long it will take them to certify the election. Here's what you should know:
8 p.m. on Election Day
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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 March 5.
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Midnight or later
Local
The next dump won't come for several hours and may not even come in before 1 a.m., the Registrar's office said. That's because 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.
Thursday
There will be no updated results on Wednesday so the next results dump is expected at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
Mail ballots may still be making their way to the Registrar's Office. Ballots mailed right before or on March 5 have seven days to arrive if postmarked by Election Day, 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.
Friday and beyond
The Registrar of Voters will decide when the next updates will come. In the pst, most data releases come around 5 p.m. every other day but that is up to the Registrar.
April 4
The results are unofficial until the race is certified, which must be done by April 4, 2024. That's when we'll know the true outcome of the California Primary Election