While ballots are still being counted, Santa Barbara County election results show lower voter turnout than in previous presidential primaries.
Michael Daly—Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder, Assessor, and Elections Office chief deputy assessor and registrar of voters—told the Sun that 41.6 percent of registered voters had their ballots counted so far during the March 5 primary.
“That could tick up because we haven’t certified, but we should be in the low 40s when all is said and done. It’s not crazy low—a way to think about it is before election day, our turnout was hovering around 20 percent,” Daly said. “Turnout on election day [was] pretty big, pretty substantial. Overall though, in the low 40s, it’s not as big as it could be, but it’s kind of right where it has been for presidential primaries.”
In 2004, Santa Barbara County saw a 55 percent turnout, 66.4 percent in 2008, 44.7 percent in 2012, 55.1 percent in 2016, and 58.7 percent in 2020, Daly said, citing Santa Barbara County data. The Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder, Assessor, and Elections Office was scheduled to have another updated count by March 21—after the Sun went to press—and Daly added that this should be the last update before the county certifies its election results, which are due to the secretary of state by April 4.
Lompoc Mayor and Santa Barbara County 3rd District supervisor candidate Jenelle Osborne told the Sun in a statement that the 42 percent turnout is a “wake-up call for everyone who cares about the direction of politics in the county and the district.”
Osborne ran as an independent for the 3rd District seat against incumbent Democrat Joan Hartmann and Republican candidate and financial business owner Frank Troise. Hartmann earned 12,020 votes (58.9 percent of the ballots cast), with Troise behind her with 5,196 votes (25.4 percent) and Osborne with 3,121 votes (15.3 percent), according to preliminary election results.
“While the election is over, pending certification, 77 percent of the voters either did not select the incumbent or did not participate,” Osborne said. “Since the incumbent only received 12,020 votes of the 51,275 registered voters (23 percent) in District 3, the incumbent’s election should not be viewed as a majority or a mandate, but rather a statement of voter apathy.”
Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara) told the Sun in a previous interview that primaries tend to see lower turnouts than the general election, and he expects the numbers will “change dramatically” in November.
“I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with the March 5 primary. California’s attempt to change things around just didn’t seem to work as intended, and it’s something we should look at again in the next four years,” Hart said.
Because the California primary election was held in June during previous election cycles, Hart said that changing it to March caused people to turn in their ballots late this cycle and that residents “just aren’t as prepared as they are in June.”
California’s primaries took place in March in 2004, February in 2008, June in both 2012 and 2016, and March in 2020, Daly said, citing county data. He added that it probably has less to do with the time of year and more with what’s on the ballot.
“We only beat 60 percent—‘we’ meaning the voters—in 2008. That had to have been the first Obama election. It might have been a more exciting ballot or what was on the ballot might have been more exciting, different measures or propositions that brought people out,” Daly said. “Of course, we want 100 percent turnout; at the elections office we prepare for it—it makes our work worthwhile.”
