Mail-in Voting Fuels Voter Turnout
Sacramento, CA – California’s Secretary of State says more than half the voters who cast ballots in the November election voted by mail – the highest rate yet for a general election.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified the results on Friday. She said 13.2 million California voters cast ballots, about 6.8 million of them by mail. The state’s certified election results show a 72 percent voter turnout and the Mother Lode numbers are even higher. Tuolumne County had 79.15 percent and Calaveras County 76.10 percent.
Tuolumne County Elections Official Debi Russell-Bautista says, “Tuolumne County always has a higher turnout than the state average. I believe that is because people are involved in their school, they’re involved with their district; they’re involved with the county. They want to make sure that they are heard so they turnout at the polls and vote-by-mail.”
Russell-Bautista says she believes voter turnout will continue to increasing as they make it easier to cast a ballot. Also for the first time, voters were able to register online, and about 590,000 people did so.
