Still Need to Mail Your Primary Ballot? Don’t Rely on USPS, Officials Say

And in previous years, as long as you didn’t drop your ballot in a USPS mailbox that already saw its last collection, or at a closed post office, your ballot would have received that Election Day postmark.

But now, California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned, USPS has changed how often it collects mail from post offices and collection boxes “in areas outside California’s major coastal cities.”

And if you live in one of these regions, “a ballot dropped in the U.S. mail on Election Day might be collected too late to be counted,” he added.

A new voter deadline

In a joint statement with Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Bonta said that California voters planning to mail their ballots “should do so at least a week before Election Day.”

This means Wednesday was actually the last day the state recommended putting your mail-in ballot into a USPS collection box — even if you live in a relatively metropolitan area.

These changes to how USPS collects its mail in certain areas are particularly impactful in a state like California, which saw almost 90% of its votes cast via mail-in ballots in the last statewide election.

But the good news: If you were planning to mail your ballot through USPS before or on Tuesday, you still have lots of other options for making sure your ballot reaches your county swiftly, so it can be counted after all.

Keep reading for what to know, or jump straight to.

Jump straight to: 

• Where to submit your ballot instead of mailing it
• How to make sure your ballot has been counted

How has USPS changed mail collection — and how do I know if I’ll be affected?

In April 2025, USPS implemented changes that mean that if a post office or a collection box is more than 50 miles from a USPS regional hub, the mail dropped off there is now picked up the next day, rather than the same day.

The only USPS regional hubs in Northern California are located in Richmond and West Sacramento.

So if your local post office or collection box where you live is more than 50 miles away from these locations, any mail you drop off there won’t be picked up until the next day.

And if you’re dropping off your election ballot on Tuesday, it won’t be picked up until Wednesday and will therefore be considered invalid due to the lack of postmark by June 2.

In their early mailing PSA, Bonta and Weber cited an LA Times investigation that found that under the new USPS system, mail-in ballots in California’s 2025 Proposition 50 election arrived too late to be counted at four times the 2024 rate.

But even if you live within 50 miles of a USPS regional hub, the state still recommends that, at this stage, you use another method to submit your ballot rather than mailing it to a USPS collection box.

Something that might convince you: The same LA Times report found that even within the 17 counties mostly or entirely within that 50-mile radius, the average rate of late ballots still doubled in 2025 under the new USPS system.

How should I now submit my ballot instead of mailing it via USPS?

Regardless of the method you choose below, you should strongly consider submitting your mail-in ballot before Tuesday. In their statement, Bonta and Weber cited a USPS spokesperson’s warning that “you should never be mailing your ballot on election day.”

Instead of using a USPS collection box in the days before June 2, you can:

Use a secure drop box

You can submit your completed ballot into a secure drop box until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. To find your closest drop box, visit the state of California lookup tool, where you can:

• Enter your county (adding your city or ZIP code will give more localized results, but it’s optional).
• Check “Drop Off Location.”
• Hit “Search” to see all the early voting and drop-off locations in that area.

Take your ballot to an open post office and ask staff to postmark it

This approach — recommended by Bonta and Weber specifically as a good option for Election Day itself — means you’ll have proof there and then that your ballot was postmarked by Election Day.

From there, you can drop it into a USPS collection box at the post office.

Vote early in person — or drop off your ballot at an open voting location

The first vote centers have already opened in certain counties, with more early voting locations opening on Saturday.

To find your closest early voting location, visit the state of California lookup tool, where you can:

• Enter your county (adding your city or ZIP code will give more localized results, but it’s optional).
• Check “Early Voting.”
• Hit “Search” to see all the early voting and drop-off locations in that area.

Remember that in-person voting hours may differ by location, and some locations may not be open every day.

If you intend to vote in person, it’s a good idea to bring the blank ballot you were mailed, as some counties may require you to vote provisionally if you don’t bring it. If you’re issued a new ballot when you vote in person, any ballot you left at home will be canceled.

Vote in person on Election Day itself

On Tuesday, in-person voting is still available at every county registrar’s office (also known as your county’s elections office) in the Bay Area. If you’re a San Francisco voter, this location will be City Hall. Find your county registrar’s office and opening hours.

Check your mail-in ballot to see where you can vote and whether you’ve been assigned a specific polling place.

If you live in San Francisco, Contra Costa or Solano counties, you’ll be assigned a specific polling place, though Contra Costa County election officials say they can process your ballot no matter where you show up to vote. You can also still vote at your county registrar’s office.

If you live in Alameda, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara or Sonoma counties, you can vote at any voting location — known as Vote Centers — including your county registrar’s office. Find your voting location through the state’s lookup tool.

Again, it’s a good idea to bring along the blank ballot that you were mailed.

I submitted my ballot, but now I’m paranoid. How can I make sure it’ll be counted?

You can sign up to track your ballot’s progress with the state’s “Where’s My Ballot?” online tool, where you can receive updates — and be reassured that your vote is on its way to being counted.

How can I contact my county directly about voting?

Across the Bay Area, elections officials are encouraging voters to reach out — early — with any questions or concerns. Here’s the contact information for your county:

• Alameda: For information about voting by mail, registration and polling place lookup, call (510) 267-8683.
• Contra Costa: Call (925) 335-7800 or email voter.services@vote.cccounty.us.
• Marin: Call (415) 473-6456 or go to the Marin County elections webpage to send a form email.
• Napa: Call (707) 253-4321 or email the elections office at elections@countyofnapa.org.
• San Francisco: Call (415) 554-4375 or email sfvote@sfgov.org.
• San Mateo: Call (888) 762-8683 or email registrar@smcacre.org.
• Santa Clara: Call toll-free at (866) 430-VOTE (8683)​ or email registrar@rov.sccgov.org​​.
• Solano: Call (707) 784-6675 or (888) 933-VOTE (8683). You can also email elections@solanocounty.com.
• Sonoma: Call (707) 565-6800 or toll-free at (800) 750-8683.

The state also has a full list of every county elections office in California.