California Primary 2016: Polling Hours & Key Information

Hillary Clinton California, Hillary Clinton polls, Hillary Clinton nomination

Hillary Clinton is expected to wrap up the Democratic nomination in California. (Getty)

California will hold its Democratic primary on Tuesday, June 7. The Golden State has been marked as the last stand for Bernie Sanders, who is well behind Hillary Clinton in both pledged delegates and superdelegates. The state represents the largest number of Democratic pledged delegates, with 475. Clinton needs just 29 delegates to become the Democratic nominee on the convention’s first ballot; Sanders would need 84 percent of the delegates from California and New Jersey, which holds its primary the same day, in order to reach the 2,026 delegates needed for a pledged delegate majority, his main hope for taking the nomination at the convention.

Here’s what you need to know about the Democratic California primary:


DATE: Tuesday, June 7, 2016

POLLING HOURS: Voting will be open to registered voters from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PT.

CANDIDATES IN THE RACE: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are fighting for the Democratic nomination.

TYPE OF PRIMARY: California is an open primary for the Democratic Party. This allows independent voters to vote in the Democratic primary upon request.

DELEGATES AT STAKE: There are 475 Democratic delegates at stake. The proportional method will be used to divide the delegates among the two candidates based on the results.

KEY ENDORSEMENTS: Despite years of bad blood between himself and the Clintons, California governor Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary. Clinton also has both of California’s Senators and 38 of its 53 Representatives. Sanders garnered the endorsement of Bao Nguyen, mayor of Garden Grove and Congressional candidate, and several local organizations.

LATEST POLLS: According to RealClearPolitics, Clinton has an average lead of just 2 percentage points on Sanders based on the early polling.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & VOTING INFORMATION: California has a FAQ page with all the pertinent voting information. You can find your polling location here.

NEXT UP AFTER CALIFORNIA: The District of Columbia’s 20 delegates are up for grabs in the nation’s final primary contest on June 14.