FIRES, APATHY KEPT VOTERS FROM POLLS, EXPERTS SAY

June 6, 2014 (San Diego County) - The voter turnout in the San Diego County for the June third primary elections surpassed expectations of a low turnout, the results were 20% equalling to 1 in 5 registered voters casting a ballot.

Reportedly 317,510 ballots in the county were cast out of 1.5 million registered voters according to Secretary of State Debra Brown’s office.

Michael Vu from Registrar of Voters said that there are about 98,000 absentee and provisional ballots to be counted, which could push the county’s poor turnout figure to 27%. Some provisional ballots could still be disqualified says Vu.

There’s been many predictions of what the voter turnout would look like. While some fell flat and others too much, the overall predictions were low entirely. Vu predicted a 35% turnout, while the National University System Institute for Policy Research predicted 18-23%, because “the low voter fatigue and low profile contests”.

Carl Luna, a professor from La Mesa college said, “We just had fires in San Diego, that probably disrupted things. There was no high-ticket, sexy component to this race. The governor’s race is a yawn, it’s not like it’s the presidential race. It’s a perfect storm of disinterest. That being said, San Diegans will now have to live with the results of their disinterests. Hopefully they’ll be more motivated in the fall.”

Polls closed at 8pm, but most San Diego County have decided to cast their ballot via email rather than going to a polling station.

Over the past 18 months, San Diegans have voted for a new mayor, a state senator, a city councilwoman, and an assemblywoman-mostly in special elections. The mayor and council races each resulted in two votes, a primary election and a runoff.