Uncategorized

Are we going to break the record for lowest turnout?

11 Comments

The answer? Yes, or almost certainly yes.  The record, according to John Wildermuth, is 28%:

In the state’s nonpresidential primary last June, nearly 60 percent of the votes came in by mail but total turnout was only 28 percent, the lowest ever for a statewide vote.(SF Chronicle 5/17/09)

From early turnout results, the numbers have been shockingly low. The last numbers I’ve heard had LA at 6% turnout, even with some municipal elections going on. Those numbers will certainly climb with the post-work rush, but I’m not expecting anything huge.

So…Congratulations Arnold, I’m sure you are very proud of that record.

UPDATE: I meant to include a few resources. Here is the SoS results page. The mobile version here. And if the site goes down, you can check the results on Twitter.

And, more evidence of low turnout. From the LA Times:

By 4 p.m., voter turnout in Los Angeles County was 11.57%. In a comparable statewide election in 2005, turnout had reached 27% by the same time.(LA Times 5/19/09)

UPDATE 2: The thing about this extremely low turnout is that it says that the voters aren’t all “enraged” about tax revolution. They just want the politicians to do their job, and they want the Governor to show some real leadership. In other words, they want a functioning government.

11 thoughts on “Are we going to break the record for lowest turnout?”

  1. Is turnout today vs. Arnold approval rating the day he leaves office.

  2. Is your 6% only for voters at the polls today, or is it counting received absentees?  

    At 8:15 a.m., only five people had voted live at my polling place, but in the ten minutes I was there, 12 absentees were delivered in person.  I wonder if a lot of absentee voters waited until the last minute and delivered the ballot instead of mailing.  

  3. Reports from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters is that turn-out is real low, but that they have 17% of the vote already in from absentees received.  Prediction (for county) was a little lower than 30% turn-out in the end.

    http://www.ibabuzz.com/politic…

  4. and I was apparently the 7th person to vote from my precinct half an hour after the polls opened, and the poll worker told me I was the youngest one so far to vote (I’m 18). That doesn’t shock me.

  5. That would see to be the Yes forces (among Democrats) and the No forces (among Republicans), wouldn’t it?  I assume that the polling is useful here, but with turnout this low it’s not the safest assumption.  (Not that I’d put money on 1A-1E, of course.)

  6. around 1pm today, I was told that I was the 35th person to show up at the precinct.

Comments are closed.