Black voters in California, like other voter groups, have been returning mail ballots at a slow pace as the state heads toward the June 2 primary election for governor, a race that has not yet generated the same level of voter excitement as some past statewide contests.
Early ballot return data compiled by Po-litical Data Intelligence, or PDI, a California voter data and analytics firm used by cam-paigns and political organizations, showed that most California voters had not returned their ballots during the May 4 to May 22 reporting period. As of May 22, Black voters remained slightly underrepresented in early ballot returns compared with their share of statewide registration.
As of May 22, more than 1.82 million bal-lots had been returned statewide, represent-ing about 7.9 percent turnout. That means more than 90 percent of registered voters had not yet returned ballots as of the report-ing date. The rate was slightly below the 8.38 percent turnout recorded at the same point during California’s 2022 primary election.
Black voters accounted for about 4 percent of registered voters statewide but roughly 3 percent of ballots returned. White and “Other” voters represented nearly 69 percent of returned ballots, compared with about 18 percent Latino voters and 11 per-cent Asian voters. The data reflects ballots returned as of May 22 and does not indicate final turnout.
Older Californians continued to make up a large share of early ballot returns. Voters age 65 and older represented roughly 54 percent of ballots returned statewide, while voters ages 18 to 34 represented about 10 percent. Like racial and ethnic categories, the age figures reflect early returns only, not the final composition of the electorate.
The PDI data also showed Black turnout rates trailing 2022 levels. Black turnout dropped from 7.5 percent during the com-parable period in the 2022 primary to 6.1 percent in 2026. Democratic Black turnout declined from 8.9 percent to 5.4 percent, while Black male turnout fell from 8.1 per-cent to 5.9 percent and Black female turnout declined from 8.0 percent to 5.7 percent.
Earlier in the campaign, California Democratic Party officials used polling to press the case for Democratic consolidation, arguing that a crowded field could divide the vote and potentially allow Republican candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco to finish among the top two vote-getters in the primary.
Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. OW .