LOS ANGELES (AP) — California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom calls mail-in voting safe and secure, but it's not perfect.

More than 100,000 mail-in ballots were rejected by election officials in the state's March presidential primary.

The six-figure tally highlights the big gap in the state's effort to ensure every vote is counted, as Democrats and Republicans argue over the integrity of vote-by-mail elections.

State data obtained by The Associated Press shows 102,428 mail-in ballots were disqualified in 58 counties, mostly because they arrived too late.

Also, nearly 28,000 were canceled because they either didn't have a signature, or the signature didn't match the one on record for the voter.