Fresno County elections warehouse evacuated after hazardous materials scare

A smoking UPS in a neighboring county facility forced Fresno County’s elections warehouse to evacuate on June 11, interrupting work at the place where all voted ballots from the June 2 primary are processed. County officials said no one was hurt and the building was secured, but the scare underscored how exposed the county’s ballot operation can be when one adjacent infrastructure problem triggers a shutdown.

County Clerk James Kus said the power supply device in the co-located operation was smoking and may have been releasing harmful gases, prompting the Fresno Fire Department to respond and order the evacuation. The warehouse sits at 4525 E. Hamilton Ave. in Fresno, and county materials identify it as the central site for ballot processing, logic and accuracy testing, and canvass work tied to the June 2, 2026 Consolidated Statewide Primary Election.

The timing mattered. As of June 9, Fresno County estimated 31,350 ballots still needed processing, including 22,000 vote-by-mail ballots from vote centers and drop boxes, 8,000 ballots postmarked by June 2 and received by June 9, 600 conditional voter registration and provisional ballots, and about 750 ballots requiring duplication. The county also said about 3,250 signature-cure letters were still outstanding, with ballots eligible to count if voters returned those forms by June 24 at 5 p.m.

The county had already set a compressed post-primary calendar. Logic and accuracy testing began April 20, vote-by-mail processing started May 7, and canvass work began June 3. The next vote totals update was scheduled for June 11 before 5 p.m., and county officials said they expected to certify the results by June 26.

The evacuation did not appear to damage equipment or permanently disrupt the warehouse, but it highlighted the fragility of election administration when one site carries so much of the county’s vote-counting load. Fresno County officials had said turnout in the June primary was shaping up to be among the largest the county has ever seen, and Kus told Fresnoland the county had received more than 80,000 mail ballots by June 1, a volume that only added pressure to keep the warehouse open, secure and functioning through the final count.