When to Expect Presidential Primary Election Results | News

On election night, we all want to know the results right away, but counting the votes takes time. Here are some reasons why:

• The county has more than 1.9 million active registered voters.
• Every active registered voter received a mail-in ballot.
• Mail-in ballots can be counted if they are postmarked on or before Election Day and are received up to seven days later.
• Those who are not registered can conditionally register and vote provisionally until Election Day.

So what can you expect on election night?

The first set of unofficial election night results will be known shortly after 8 p.m. This will include mail-in ballots received before Election Day and ballots from early voting polling places between February and March 4.

For the latest update on election night results, you can visit sdvote.com or follow the Registrar’s office at x (formerly Twitter).

After that, election night results will include only polling place ballots cast on election day. There will be no further updates on mail-in ballots on election night.

Election Day ballots arrive after polls close at 8 pm. There will be a time lag for the next set of results as poll workers pack up supplies and drive from more than 200 vote centers located across the county.

Upon arrival at the Registrar’s office, vote center ballots will be scanned and results will be updated periodically until all vote center ballots have been counted.

Since there are fewer voting centers compared to the traditional polling place model, the Registrar’s office will provide result updates less frequently.

Final unofficial election night results may not be known until 1 a.m. or later and will only cover ballots that could be counted immediately.

The counting of votes does not end on election night.

What is left to tell?

• Mail-in ballots
  • These are ballots delivered to voting centers, official drop boxes, or picked up by the US Postal Service on Election Day.
  • Ballots mailed just before March 5 or on March 5 have seven days to arrive if they are postmarked by Election Day.
• Provisional ballots
  • People who missed the February 20 registration deadline can register conditionally and provisionally vote in person until Election Day and Election Day.
  • Once your voter registration is processed and the Registrar’s office confirms that the voter did not vote elsewhere in the state, the voter registration is activated and the provisional ballot is counted.

Following election night, the next release of unofficial results is scheduled for 5 pm on Thursday, March 7.

Additional updates are at the discretion of the Registrar of Voters. The Registrar’s Office will be closed on Monday, April 1 in commemoration of César Chávez Day.

However, the results must be certified by April 4 and the Registrar hopes to use the entire certification period to ensure that the results are accurate. All updates will be posted on sdvote.com and the final certified results will be published on April 4.

Learn more about the March presidential primaries at sdvote.comor call (858) 565-5800 or toll-free (800) 696-0136.