Voting by mail seeing lower turnout than in 2020 primary, Los Angeles County says
CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. (KABC) -- Efforts to count ballots for Tuesday's primary are already underway at voting centers throughout California, where voting by mail prior to elections has become more common in recent years.
Elections officials say early results indicate turnout for the 2024 primary will be lower than the 2020 primary, when the Democratic party had a competitive primary.
"This is significantly lower than what we saw in in March 2020," said Los Angeles County registrar of voters Dean Logan. "In March 2020 we were inundated with voters, we had lines at vote centers."
So far in Los Angeles, about 11% of registered voters have cast ballots.
The county has moved its counting operations to the City of Industry, to a facility that is designed to be transparent to the public.
Anyone who hasn't registered to vote yet but is otherwise eligible can register until the polls close Tuesday, Logan said. They would receive a conditional ballot, meaning it wouldn't be counted until the person's registration is confirmed and entered into the county database.
In Orange County, voter turnout is around 16% so far, a rate comparable to the 2022 midterm elections, officials say.
