Nearly 60% Voter Turnout In California

Sacramento, CA– Secretary of State Debra Bowen says 59.6 percent of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on November 2nd, the highest for a gubernatorial election in the state since 1994. 

Bowen certified the statewide results on Friday.

“The race for governor and some controversial propositions drew the highest number of people to the polls in five gubernatorial elections,” said Secretary Bowen.

Four years ago, 56.2 percent of registered voters participated in the gubernatorial election. In 2002, voter turnout for the gubernatorial election was 50.6 percent, while 57.6 percent of registered voters turned out in the 1998 gubernatorial election.

For the November 2nd General Election, the counties with the highest voter turnout as a percentage of registered voters were Sierra (81.9%), Nevada (80.8%) and Amador (77.6%). Turnout was the lowest in the counties of Imperial (49.8%), Merced (50.9%) and Fresno (52.2%).

In the Mother Lode, Tuolumne County had 71.6% voter turnout and Calaveras County had 70%.

Written by tina.falco@mlode.com