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California, LA County turnout so far lower than 2012, but it's still early in the counting
Over 1 million ballots remain uncounted in Los Angeles County as of Wednesday afternoon, election officials reported. Once tallied, the ballots may change the low number for turnout.
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California, LA County turnout so far lower than 2012, but it's still early in the counting
One of the most contentious elections in recent memory just wrapped up and as of now the final turnout numbers for California and Los Angeles County aren't clear.
Early numbers show that just over 51 percent of registered voters statewide cast ballots in Tuesday's general election. That is well below 2012's final turnout of about 70 percent.
First, it’s important to know that many ballots in the recent election remain to be counted.
The Secretary of State’s office has yet to issue an official estimate. But Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project at University of California, Davis, estimates that 3 million or more ballots are still outstanding. That compares to the 9,964,377 ballots cast thus far, according to the Secretary of State's website.
So it remains to be seen if the state will trail, meet or exceed 2012’s turnout levels.
As for local numbers, Romero said while Los Angeles County had a surge in voter registration, so far the turnout of 45 percent doesn't look impressive.
"Right now, the numbers look really low for L.A. County, and L.A. County often does have lower turnout rates than the rest of the state. At the same time, though, it is really early," she said.
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L.A. County officials said there are more than 1 million ballots still to be counted, including provisional votes and vote by mail ballots dropped off at polling places. That doesn’t include vote by mail ballots that are still arriving. Valid ballots received by Monday will be counted.
Leading up to this election, L.A. County recorded the lowest vote by mail participation rate in the state, according to Romero.
As of Wednesday afternoon, ballots remain to be counted for other Southern California counties as well. Orange County officials reported 410,480 ballots still to be tallied.
The Secretary of State has until Dec. 10 to certify the presidential election results and Dec. 16 to certify election results for other races.
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