As of this Thursday (31 days after election day on December 5th), 71.4% of ballots have been tallied in all 58 counties of California (Voter turnout = Ballots counted / Total registered voters), while the turnout rate during the primary in March was only 35%. The number of registered voters is approaching 22.6 million, an increase of about 530,000 compared to the primary in March. This indicates that more Californians are participating in the 2024 election.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, Los Angeles County added over 90,000 new voters, bringing the total registered voters to over 5.74 million, accounting for 25.43% of the total voters in California, which is equivalent to the combined registered voters of 45 counties with lower populations. The fate of the state’s 10 ballot measures largely depends on the voting trends in Los Angeles County. Currently, the county’s voter turnout stands at 66%.
There are five counties in California with over a million registered voters each: San Diego County has over 1.98 million, an increase of over 50,000 since the primary, with a voter turnout of 75.8%; Orange County has over 1.86 million, a boost of 43,000 from the primary, with a turnout rate of 76.1%; Riverside County has over 1.37 million, adding 45,000 voters since the primary, with a voter turnout of 69.9%; San Bernardino County has over 1.19 million, an increase of 31,000 from the primary, with a turnout rate of 64.4%; Santa Clara County has over 1.04 million, growing by 24,000 since the primary, with a turnout rate of 73%.
The counties with the lowest voter turnout are Imperial County (60.6%) with 90,000 registered voters, followed by Kern County (62.6%) with 458,000 registered voters, and Tulare County (63.9%) with 219,000 registered voters.
There are 14 counties with a voter turnout rate between 6% and 7%, 31 counties with a rate between 7% and 8%, and 13 counties with a rate exceeding 8%. The county with the highest voter turnout is Amador County (85.9%) with 26,000 registered voters, followed by El Dorado County (84.3%) with 135,000 registered voters, and Inyo County (84.2%) with 10,000 registered voters.
Looking at the statistics from the presidential election, as of the 5th, Janet Ho Jin-li received 58.5% support in her home state of California. Among the 58 counties, 27 (mainly coastal populous counties such as Los Angeles, San Diego) supported Ho Jin-li, while 31 counties supported Donald Trump.
In the Senate election, Democratic candidate Adam Schiff won against Republican candidate Steve Garvey in both the 6-year term (58.9%) and partial term (58.8%).
As of the 5th, the Democratic Party secured 43 out of 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in California. In the 13th district, Adam Gray, in the 27th district, George Whitesides, and in the 45th district, Derek Tran, all newcomers, entered Congress, flipping three Republican seats. The Republican Party only retained 9 seats, with the incumbent representatives John Duarte in the 13th district, Mike Garcia in the 27th district, and Michelle Steel in the 45th district all losing their seats, despite leading their opponents with the same margin (54.9%) in the primary elections back in March.