11/04/2026 - (VENTURA) Ventura County Semifinal Official Election Night Results for the November 3, 2026 General Election were posted on vote.venturacounty.gov at 4:39 AM on Wednesday, November 4th. Statewide results are available on the Secretary of State’s website, electionresults.sos.ca.gov
The first results posted on Election Night included vote by mail ballots that were received and signature-verified before Election Day along with in-person ballots cast during early voting. Vote center ballots cast on Election Day were reflected in the updated results postings.
An urgency bill passed in September that prohibited counties from releasing results until all polling places in the state were confirmed closed, was fortunately not activated, said Ventura County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters, Michelle Ascencion.
“California Senate Bill 884 required us to await the go-ahead from the Secretary of State’s office once they confirmed no county’s voting hours were extended due to a disruption or court order. Fortunately that authorization came quickly,” Ascencion said. “We were able to post our initial results report without delay, and stick to our planned schedule for the subsequent updates.”
The day after Election Day is the start of the Official Canvass Period, which must be completed within 30 days. Numerous post-election requirements mandated by State law are conducted by election officials during the canvass. Progress towards completing canvass activities is reported to the Secretary of State on an ongoing basis.
One canvass requirement is to contact voters when there is an issue with the signature on their vote by mail ballot. If the return envelope signature is missing or doesn’t match the voter’s signature on record, the Elections Office will contact the voter to provide an opportunity to “cure” the signature issue, to allow the ballot to be counted. Voters have until November 25, 2026 to cure their signature.
Provisional Ballots and Conditional Voter Registration Provisional Ballots cast by voters during the election are investigated during the canvass. Voters are given a provisional ballot when they register late, have a last-minute change to their registration, or are shown to have already voted. Provisional ballots are withheld from being counted until the voter’s eligibility can be verified.
The One Percent Manual Tally audit is a hand count of ballot batches tabulated through the end of Election Night from one percent of the precincts, to confirm the accuracy of the tabulation. The manual tally utilizes multiple teams of Election Workers who spend several hours physically and meticulously tallying the votes on each ballot.
The bulk of the workload during canvass is the processing and tallying of the remaining vote by mail ballots, which voters returned through ballot drop boxes and vote center drop-offs on Election Day; plus ballots returned US mail that are postmarked on or before Election Day and received by November 10.
“It’s human nature to procrastinate, even with something as important as voting,” Registrar Ascencion said. “About half of the vote by mail ballots are mailed or dropped off on Election Day, despite going out to voters nearly a month ahead of the election! Whether they come in early, or at the last minute on Election Day, each vote by mail ballot envelope signature goes through the double-verification process to ensure every vote is lawful, and every lawful vote is counted.”
Below is the planned schedule of Ventura County’s Official Canvass activities:
- November 5, 6, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23: Election Results Updates posted by 5:00 PM, along with an estimated number of unprocessed ballots remaining, at vote.venturacounty.gov.
- November 9: Random batch selection for the One Percent Manual Tally.
- November 10: Deadline for vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to be received by the Elections Office.
- November 12: One Percent Manual Tally Audit begins.
- November 25: Deadline for signature curing is 5:00 PM, followed by the final certification of results, time TBD.
“Each of the steps in the canvass is designed to protect the integrity and ensure the accountability of the process,” said Ascencion. “The entire Elections team recognizes that our work after Election Day is as critically important as everything we do leading up to it . From start to finish, we dot every “i” and cross every “t” to meet legal requirements and to deliver secure, accurate results.”
For more information, visit vote.venturacounty.gov, follow updates on social media (@VCClerkRecorder), reach out via email (elections@venturacounty.gov), or call the Elections Division at (805) 654-2664.
The Ventura County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters is committed to “Preserving history and protecting democracy for the people of Ventura County, past, present, and future.” More information about the agency’s services is available 24/7 at clerkrecorder.venturacounty.gov