Ventura County One Percent Manual Tally Audit Begins the Task of Election Verification

Ventura County election officials are in the final stretch of a state-mandated hand recount designed to confirm that voting machines accurately tallied every contest in the June 2, 2026, Gubernatorial Primary Election — a process that directly affects Oxnard voters whose ballots remain part of the ongoing count.

What the Audit Is and Why the Law Requires It

The One Percent Manual Tally is not optional. California Elections Code §15360 requires that, during the official canvass of every election in which a voting system is used, elections officials conduct a public hand count of at least one percent of ballot batches tabulated by those machines, including vote-by-mail ballots. The tally must cover every contest on the ballot, and officials are required to document any discrepancy between the machine count and the hand count — and explain how it was resolved — before they can certify results, according to the California Secretary of State's one percent manual tally regulations.

The audit is not a recount of every vote. Rather, as the Ojai Valley News reported, it is "a count of one percent of ballot batches accumulated throughout the election process," counted by hand to help confirm the accuracy of ballots counted electronically.

The Ventura County Schedule

According to Vida Newspaper, Ventura County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Michelle Ascencion announced that the audit process officially began June 11 at 9:00 a.m. and is expected to be completed no later than June 23, 2026. Multiple teams of election workers are conducting the hand counts across the various ballot types and contests.

"There are so many focused, detail-sensitive components of an election that have to take place on a strict schedule, including the one percent manual tally," Ascencion said, according to Vida Newspaper. She described it as "a key step to the certification of every election."

The audit is one of several post-Election Day requirements unfolding simultaneously during the Official Canvass Period. The Ventura County Registrar's office confirmed that election officials are also processing provisional ballots, investigating voter eligibility, and contacting voters whose mail ballot signatures need to be "cured" — with a cure deadline of June 24, 2026.

What's at Stake for Oxnard Voters

The June 2 primary drew 154,150 ballots cast across Ventura County from 525,292 registered voters, a turnout of about 29.35 percent. Oxnard, as the county's most populous city, cast a significant share of those votes across multiple closely watched contests.

Several races directly relevant to Oxnard residents remain in play as counting continues. The Ventura County Superintendent of Schools race — which pits Karen Sher, an Oxnard Union High School District trustee and longtime local educator, against Maggie Marschner — is heading toward a November runoff. Incumbent Clerk-Recorder Ascencion herself is an Oxnard native who won reelection in the June 2 primary, thanking "especially my home town of Oxnard" in a post-election statement to Vida Newspaper — making her the official overseeing the very audit that finalizes her own win.

The California Secretary of State's election results portal notes that results will be certified by July 10, 2026, at the state level. Locally, Ventura County's election certification is scheduled for June 26, 2026, just days after the manual tally is set to wrap.

How the Process Works — and Why It Matters Now

The manual tally is one of two key accuracy-checking mechanisms California law mandates for every election that uses voting machines. The other — Pre-Election Logic and Accuracy Testing — is conducted before votes are cast to confirm equipment is functioning correctly. Together, they form a layered verification system that California requires regardless of the election's size or competitiveness.

During the tally itself, multiple teams of election workers physically count ballots from randomly selected batches — covering vote-center ballots as well as mail ballots — and compare those hand counts against the electronically compiled totals. The California Secretary of State's regulations specify that any discrepancies between machine results and the manual tally must be clearly documented, and the final certification report must describe how each discrepancy was resolved.

The random selection of which ballot batches to audit cannot happen until after polls close on Election Day, ensuring no pre-selection that could compromise the process.

How to Observe — and What Comes Next

The audit is open to the public. Oxnard residents and members of the media who want to watch the process in person can visit the Elections Division at the Ventura County Government Center (Hall of Administration, Lower Plaza), 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura. The Ventura County Registrar's website has the official audit notice, and the Elections Division can be reached at 805-654-2664 or [email protected].

Once the manual tally concludes by June 23 and the canvass wraps up with certification on June 26, Ventura County will report its final results to the Secretary of State. California's statewide results are set to be certified by July 10, 2026, at which point the June 2 primary will be official — and the November General Election campaign season will officially be underway for the races headed to runoffs, including those that matter most to Oxnard voters.