Fresno County’s Massive Ballot Processing Effort

More than 100,000 ballots are being processed in Fresno County in the days following the 2026 midterm elections. The work started right away on election night.

Inside the Fresno County elections warehouse, the main goal was to organize and sort the ballots. Most ballots were not being counted at that point. Instead, election workers were making sure everything was streamlined and organized so that once counting started, it would not need to stop.

Results continued to come in throughout the night as vote centers delivered memory cards and physical election materials to the warehouse.

James Kus, Fresno County clerk and registrar of voters, said one update included results from about 20 vote centers, with more expected throughout the night.

Strong Election Day turnout was one reason Fresno County voters should not expect immediate final results.

“It looks like we’ve had a great turnout today and that’s going to take time for us to work through,” Kus said.

The county received additional state funding intended to speed up election processing, but Kus said the money arrived too late to purchase new equipment or make major permanent changes for this election. Instead, the county was able to bring in additional workers.

Later in the night, Kus said more than 26,000 people voted in person on Election Day, and more than 37,000 voted in person during the four-week voting period.

For voters, the message remains: be patient. Results are coming in, but processing and counting more than 100,000 ballots takes time.

Fresno County will continue organizing, processing, and counting ballots as updated election results are released in the coming days.