Calif. voter turnout may be record low
By Christopher Cadelago, Sacramento Bee
Turnout in Tuesday’s primary election is expected to approach just a quarter of registered voters, comfortably eclipsing a 6-year-old record for voter apathy in California.
Election officials are still processing mail-in ballots, but preliminary counts show fewer than 4.5 million voters participated – 25 percent of the 17.7 million who are registered and just 18.5 percent of the 24.1 million who are eligible.
Experts principally blamed the lack of participation on the dearth of citizen ballot initiatives and what most consider a humdrum challenge to incumbent Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.
“There is, quite frankly, very little sizzle,” said David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University.
Still, McCuan believes the state’s turnout may have hit bottom.