Local turnout was a bit higher than state rate; 55 percent voted
by mail
Just under one-third of registered San Benito County voters cast
a ballot in the May 19 statewide special election that shot down
five budget-related measures proposed by lawmakers and the
governor.
Local turnout was a bit higher than state rate; 55 percent voted by mail
Just under one-third of registered San Benito County voters cast a ballot in the May 19 statewide special election that shot down five budget-related measures proposed by lawmakers and the governor.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen said last week that only 28.4 percent of the state’s 17.1 million registered voters cast ballots in the election.
Locally, 31.6 percent of San Benito County’s nearly 25,000 registered voters turned out, with 55 percent of them voting by mail.
The election set a record for the percentage of voters who mailed in ballots. More than 62 percent voted that way statewide.
“Vote-by-mail voting [formerly called absentee voting] has been steadily increasing in nearly every election since 1979, when California law was changed to allow any registered voter to vote by mail,” said Bowen, noting that just over 4 percent of votes were cast that way 30 years ago.
She called this year’s overall voter turnout “disappointing, especially in the wake of November’s record numbers” for the presidential election.
The highest turnout in this year’s special election was in tiny Sierra County, where more than half of voters participated. The lowest was in Imperial County, where only 19.9 percent voted.
The lowest turnout on record for a statewide election in California was set in 1935, when only 17.5 percent voted.
San Benito County has 34,446 people who are eligible to register to vote and 24,898 who are actually registered.
