San Diego’s November city election moves toward Aug. 5 ballot-order drawing
San Diego’s City Clerk is scheduled to conduct a public random drawing at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5, to determine ballot order for City Council contests headed to the Nov. 3, 2026 general municipal election.
The drawing is the next listed election milestone for four council districts: Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8. Those races will determine representation for the districts on the San Diego City Council.
The event will be held at the San Diego City Administration Building, 202 C Street. The public may attend, according to the City Clerk’s election information.
Ballot order has not yet been set
The City Clerk describes the Aug. 5 event as a random ballot-order drawing. The final order is not stated in the notice ahead of the drawing, so it will not be known until the process is conducted.
The drawing concerns the general-election contests rather than the city’s June 2, 2026 primary. Under the election information posted by the City Clerk, the top two vote-getters from that primary advance to the November general election.
That means the November ballot will include the candidates who advanced under that top-two process in each of the four listed council districts. The City Clerk’s notice does not provide a final ballot order before the scheduled drawing.
Public examination period remains open
Candidate ballot materials are subject to public examination from July 28 through Aug. 7. The examination period includes the date of the ballot-order drawing and ends two days afterward.
The public-facing dates listed by the City Clerk establish a sequence for this stage of the municipal election: the examination period began July 28; the ballot-order drawing is scheduled for Aug. 5; and the examination period closes Aug. 7.
After those August milestones, the next election date identified in the notice is the Nov. 3 general municipal election. Voters in Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 will choose among the candidates who advanced from the June primary.
What voters and observers can expect next
For now, the confirmed next step is the Aug. 5 drawing at 10 a.m. The result will set the ballot order for the four City Council general-election contests, while the public examination window for candidate ballot materials remains open through Aug. 7.
The City Clerk’s posted information does not support conclusions about how ballot placement may affect any candidate or race. It also does not characterize the contests’ competitiveness. The known schedule instead identifies the drawing, the close of the examination period and the November election as the remaining milestones listed for this phase.
Sources
- 2026 Election Information, City of San Diego City Clerk