Who will be California’s next governor? Will the 48th Congressional District flip from Republican to Democrat? Will San Diegans agree to tax some vacant homes?
On Tuesday morning, Mira Mesa resident Rick Cianci stopped by the Registrar of Voters’ Office in Kearny Mesa to cast his vote. He said a lot is at stake in this primary election.
“It’s an important election,” he said. “All elections are important. If you don’t put your voice in ... you can complain, but it’s kind of, you know, it’s a one-way street if you don’t.”
Cianci, who said he is a registered Democrat, said he’s fed up with how expensive it has become to live in California, and doesn’t agree with certain pilot programs the Newsom administration has launched, including testing a per-mile fee. He said that’s why he is voting for a Republican gubernatorial candidate.
His vote will be part of the few sets of unofficial results the county is expected to release after 8 p.m., when polls close.
Hundreds of thousands of county voters have already returned their ballots. According to the Registrar's Office, more than 470,000 mail-in ballots and about 14,000 in-person ballots had been returned by Tuesday morning. That makes up a nearly 24% turnout.
“We’re looking at a slightly higher turnout than we have in the past primaries,” said Shawn Brom, the county’s Registrar of Voters.
He said the early turnout is expected to trend upward between 35% and 40%. According to county data, the turnout for the 2024 presidential primary was 36.4%, and the 2022 gubernatorial primary turnout was 34.8%. Over the last 12 years, primaries have also had turnouts as low as 27% and as high as roughly 51%.
Brom said its first set of unofficial results will go live shortly after 8 p.m., which will include all in-person and mail-in ballots returned by June 1. The remaining updates through the night will include votes cast throughout Tuesday.
Mail-in ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received up to seven days after will still be counted, the county said.
After election night, county officials said the next set of unofficial results will be Thursday by 6 p.m. The results are expected to be certified by July 2.
