California voters break an all-time record and it's nothing to boast about

A voter casts his vote at a polling station in Pasadena, California, on November 4, 2014. Months of campaign promises, partisan charges and a seemingly endless flood of political ads and mailers will finally come to an end Tuesday as voters make their choices for offices ranging from governor of California down to city councils, harbor commissions and water boards. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Californian voters broke a new all-time record this election, but it's not one to boast about. Voter turn-out was abysmal in the Golden State.

According to the California Secretary of State website, less than a third of eligible voters took to the polls in Tuesday's election.

Of course, there are still provisional and mail-in ballots to be counted -- but even as those outstanding ballots are processed, the Field Poll predicts that this election still saw the lowest turnout to date.

Barbara O'Connor is an Emeritus Professor of Communications and the Director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento. She says California saw the impact of campaign money being spent by Political Action Committees on negative advertising in the state, and that the "overkill on fear appeals" had voters feeling hopeless this year.