Merced County election officials reported a smooth June primary Election Day Tuesday as voters cast ballots at 14 vote centers across the county and returned thousands of vote-by-mail ballots ahead of the 8 p.m. deadline.
By Tuesday morning, about 18% of registered voters had participated, with most ballots expected to come in later in the day and through mail-in returns processed after Election Day.
“We’ve already had more than 300 people vote this morning, and that doesn’t count the 504 folks who voted in person over the last 10 days, as well as more than 26,000 vote-by-mail ballots that have been received by the department,” Merced County Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey said at around 9:30 a.m.
Usually in a primary election, voter turnout is slightly lower compared to November elections. But according to Levey, this year’s turnout tracked closely with past primaries and slightly higher than the March 2024 primary.
By early evening, officials said voting continued to run smoothly countywide, with no major delays or long lines reported at any vote center.
By 6:30 p.m., Levey said turnout remained steady throughout the day with smooth operations at the polling sites.
“We’ve seen just under 2,500 in-person voters today,” Levey said. “That doesn’t include thousands and thousands of vote-by-mail drop-offs at all of our locations. It’s been a really smooth process, and we’re not seeing or hearing about any lines anywhere.”
Turnout is difficult to predict, Levey said, but it’s shaped largely by voter engagement with issues on the ballot.
“We expect a healthy turnout overall,” Levey said.
Merced County continues to see competitive elections across multiple levels, which contributes to constant voter engagement, Levey said.
“Merced County has a lot of different opinions and a lot of close contests,” he said. “It’s a pretty balanced county.”
Voters of all ages showed up across the county, Levey said, with no clear spikes in youth turnout or other age groups based on in-person observation. He also noted there was some same-day registration activity, though the numbers on that are still to be undetermined.
More than 300 election workers and volunteers staffed vote centers across Merced County, working long hours to ensure ballots were processed, Levey said.
At the American Legion Post 83 on Main Street, voters said they were motivated by issues including housing, affordability, education and access to jobs.
Ethan Custodio, a doctoral student and teaching assistant, said he votes in every election and believes participation is essential.
“We have the power to shape how the world looks and who is in government,” Custodio said. “If everybody voted, we could change a lot of things.”
Custodio said he hopes to see candidates focused on long-term vision and policy direction rather than reactionary politics.
Efrain Gutierrez Jr., a 21-year-old college student studying to become a veterinarian, said environmental issues and community wellbeing influenced his vote.
“I feel like each vote counts,” he said. “We can make a change by using voting action instead of physical action.”
Local issues such as safety, community services, and access to resources are especially important to younger voters, he added.
As the polls closed, all of the ballots in Merced County are headed toward the central count facility. Levey estimated about 3,300 in-person ballots were turned in.
The mail-in ballots will be processed Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, any vote-by-mail ballots that are received over the next seven days, as long as they were postmarked by June 2, will be counted.
Election results reported Tuesday evening are preliminary. County election officials are required to report final results to the California Secretary of State by July 3, and the Secretary of State will certify results on July 10.