8M Ballots Already Cast In CA: See Latest Data + How To Track Your 2024 Ballot

CALIFORNIA, CA — In California, 8,058,584 vote-by-mail ballots have been returned and 98% of them were already accepted, according to data posted by California's Secretary of State the day before the election.

Counties were required to mail out ballots by Oct. 7 — all active, registered voters should have received a vote-by-mail ballot for the general election.

Nationwide, more than 76.5 Americans have already cast their ballots in Tuesday’s 2024 presidential election.

According to a Monday analysis by NBC News of data from election officials across the country, 49% percent of early votes in California were cast by Democrats, 30% were by Republicans and 21% were by people who haven’t declared a party.

Not all California residents who received an early-vote ballot had returned them by Monday. The returned ballots represent 47% of those sent to Democrats, 25% sent to Republicans and 28% sent to no-party voters.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day — but anyone who is line by 8 p.m. will be able to vote.

The campaigns of both former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris have pushed early voting to bank votes ahead of Election Day. Of early votes cast nationally, 41 percent have been cast by Democrats, 39 percent by Republicans and 20 percent by no-party voters.

Besides the all-important presidential race, California voters will decide on 10 statewide propositions, 52 U.S. House district seats and one senate seat, which was held by the late Dianne Feinstein.

Tracking Your Ballot

Many registered Californians have already returned their votes for the Nov. 5 General Election. But do you know how to track your ballot?

The Secretary of State is offering a “Where’s My Ballot?” tool called BallotTrax that allows voters to monitor the status of their vote-by-mail ballot. If you’re still waiting on your ballot to arrive in the mail, this tool can also be used to sort out where it may be.

“Signing up for ‘Where’s My Ballot?’ is one of the most prudent steps Californians can take to protect their vote,” Secretary of State Shirley Webber said. "Ballot tracking is available statewide, and we are seeing an incredible adoption rate. Voters who have already signed-up should encourage their friends and family to do the same."

As of Oct. 29, more than 5 million Golden State voters had signed up to track their ballot online, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

Whether you dropped your ballot at a dropbox, through the mail, or in-person at a vote center on Election Day, you’ll be able to see when your ballot is accepted through a state tool that was created in 2020.

Residents can visit this link to access BallotTrax. Then, enter your legal first and last name, date of birth and your current zip code. The site will then prompt you to set up text and email alerts.

Once you’re in, you will be able to see your “current mail ballot status.” Scroll down and you’ll also see your previous mail ballots and whether they were cast in person.

Those who sign up will get automatic updates when their county elections office:

• Mails the voter’s ballot.
• Receives the voter’s ballot.
• Counts the voter’s ballot.
• Has any issues with the voter’s ballot.

Ballot Box Collection

According to the California Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, ballots are collected on a regular basis from drop boxes.

• Ballots are picked up from both staffed and unstaffed drop boxes at least every 96 hours, except weekends, between the 29th day before the election and the 10th day before an election.
• Ballots are picked up from staffed drop boxes at least every 72 hours, except weekends, after the 10th day before the election through 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Ballots are picked up from unstaffed drop boxes every 48 hours, except weekends, hours after the 10th day before an election through through 8 p.m. on Election Day.

When the polls close on Election Day, all drop boxes shall be locked or covered at 8 p.m. and elections officials are expected to retrieve as many ballots as practical before 11:59 p.m.

Riverside County elections officials are required to certify to Weber’s office that all ballots have been retrieved from all staffed and unstaffed drop boxes.

Registering To Vote

The last day to register to vote online was Oct. 21, but you can still take advantage of
same-day voter registration, also known as conditional registration — available for those who miss the deadline to register to vote or update their information before the Nov. 5 election.

Conditional Voter Registration is described as a “safety net” for eligible residents who need to register at the last minute, according to Weber’s office. These ballots are processed and counted once the county election office has completed the process of verifying the registration.

In California, you can complete the same-day voter registration process at your local county registrar of voters and most vote centers. Find a location that allows same-day registration here.

On Nov. 5, residents will be able to access same-day voter registration and cast their ballots between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If you are voting for the first time after registering to vote by mail and you did not provide your driver's license number, California ID number or the last four digits of your social security number on your registration form, you may asked to show a form of ID when you arrive at the polls, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

If this is the case, bring a form of ID with you or include a copy of it with your vote-by-mail ballot.

Who’s Registered To Vote In California?

In California, there were 22,595,659 total registered voters as of Oct. 21, according to the latest registration report from California’s Secretary of State. At least 10,355,081 (46%) were listed as Democrats while 5,638,209 (24%) were registered under the Republican party. About 22% of voters listed no party preference while 7% listed "other."

The counties with the largest increase in registered voters were Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the number of registered voters in California as of Oct. 21.