Excerpt:

Once the final ballots are mailed-in, placed in a drop box or cast in-person for California’s March 5 primary election, the attention will turn to the results.

But how quickly will those be made public? And will they tell us the outcome of the races right away?

Election officials and experts say the results will arrive in three separate waves on election night, with the first being released shortly after the polls close at 8 p.m. on March 5.

The first wave will consist of results from the early-arriving vote-by-mail ballots, likely the ones that arrived a few days — or weeks — before the election, Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, told CapRadio in 2022.

The early results will show up on the California Secretary of State’s website. But they won’t necessarily be enough to determine the outcome of close races. 

Excerpt:

Tuesday is the final day to cast ballots in this year’s primary election. Voters across the Bay Area will decide on key races for county supervisor seats, state offices, and a slew of measures aimed at addressing mental health, public safety and the region’s homelessness crisis. Some of the races garnering attention include a rare recall election for two San Francisco judges who have been portrayed as soft on crime. In the East Bay, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín is competing with five other candidates for a seat in the state senate. In Napa, voters will decide on three of five supervisor seats. We’ll talk about the races you’re watching and what you need to know going into the primary. (Full Audio)

Excerpt:

When you go to vote in the California primary, you may be surprised to see that in the race for U.S. Senate, you're asked to vote twice!

Plus, there are more names in the contest for the six-year Senate term, which starts in January 2025 than for the special election, which will last roughly a month once the November results are certified in early December. The point of the special election is to fill out the remainder of late California Senator Diane Feinstein's seat.

Adding to the confusion, Gov. Gavin Newsom's appointment - Laphonza Butler - decided not to run in either contest, so her name is not on the ballot.

Excerpt:

The 2024 general election in November will decide who will be the President of the United States for the next four years. But way before that, California voters have another big election on March 5: Our state’s presidential primary. 

‘The good news is that nobody has to vote with the ballot that they get in the mail if they don’t want to.’ Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation

Among other things, the March primary election allows voters to choose the candidate from their preferred political party that they ultimately want to run for president in November. But if you’re registered as a “no party preference” voter (sometimes referred to as an “independent”), you’ll need to take action to be able to vote in these races. Otherwise, the ballot you’ll receive starting in early February won’t have any presidential candidates on it.