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LA County's latest bid to raise taxes — Measure ER — narrowly passes
More about this measure
About our live results
Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be known for days or weeks after Election Day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known.
What’s at stake in this race
Measure ER would increase L.A. County's sales tax rate from 9.75% to 10.25%. Voters were asked whether to raise L.A. County's general sales tax by a half-percent for five years to backfill hospital and clinic budgets amid massive federal cuts to Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program.
The county tax would generate an estimated $1 billion a year for providers that rely on Medi-Cal dollars to pay for patient care.
What it takes to win
Because Measure ER is a general tax and not a special tax, it needs support from only a simple majority of voters (50% plus one) in order to pass. (If it were a special tax, it would require two-thirds approval.)
We're awaiting fresh voting figues by end of day Thursday, which will help clarify the results in this race.
The backstory
Cuts and changes to Medi-Cal that the Trump administration made under H.R. 1 — the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" signed into law last year — will cost the county's health departments about $800 million annually, or $2.4 billion over the next three years while stripping healthcare coverage from hundreds of thousands of people, according to Los Angeles County projections.
More than 3.8 million L.A. County residents, or 39% of the population, were enrolled in Medi-Cal at the start of this year. Because of federal cuts and changes, about 1.1 million of them could lose that coverage by 2028, according to an analysis by the U.C. Berkeley Labor Center.
Campaign finance
Go deeper on the issues
- Guide to understanding Measure ER (LAist)
- L.A. County voters will decide on sales tax increase to cover federal healthcare cuts (LAist)
- Reckoning with state and federal cuts, Los Angeles safety-net clinics push for new tax (LAist)
- Fight or flight? Some California nonprofits won't remain silent in face of Trump budget slashing (L.A. Times)
- L.A. County turns to private foundation to backfill public health funding cuts (LAist)
- GOP cuts will cripple Medicaid enrollment, warns CEO of largest public health plan (LAist)
About the vote count
For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. In L.A. County, for example, updates on the counting are expected to continue through June 26. After the polls closed on election night, we had updates to the official count regularly into the early hours Wednesday. After that, updates have been daily around 5 p.m. Expect updates on the following days: June 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24 and 26. Final results must be certified by July 10.
Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will report when candidates concede and otherwise rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls (before official results). We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.
Tracking your ballot
You can track the status of your ballot through California's BallotTrax website.
If your mail-in ballot has any problems (like a missing or mismatched signature), your county registrar must contact you to give you a chance to fix it.
Official results
The California Secretary of State's Office is required to certify the final vote tallies by July 10, marking the official end of the 2026 primary election.
LAist's Voter Game Plan will be back in the fall to help you prepare for the Nov. 3 general election.
What questions do you have about this election?
You ask, and we'll answer: Whether it's about who's funding the campaigns or how to track your ballot, we're here to help you understand the 2026 election