SACRAMENTO, California — Election Day is a little more than two weeks away and California voters have already started mailing in or dropping off their ballots.
Political Data Inc. (PDI), which monitors voter turnout, says 1.7 million of California’s registered voters have returned their ballots.
“That is more than at this point in the election had been returned in the 2022 Gubernatorial Election we just had, but it is about half as many as had been returned by this point in the 2020 General Election,” said Paul Mitchell, Vice President of Political Data Inc.
Mitchell says 7% of California’s 22.4 million voters have mailed in a ballot or dropped it off at a drop box. He adds in 2020, about three million ballots were returned at this time, the explanation for the decrease is simple.
“It was during COVID lockdowns. For a lot of folks in 2020 myself included, going to the mailbox was the chance to get out of the house and going to the dropbox was like taking a vacation,” said Mitchell.
The early ballot returns could be surprising to some as to who has returned their ballots thus far.
“Seniors are around a quarter of the registered voters, but they represent more than half of the ballots that have been returned,” said Mitchel. “Young people, 18 to 34-year-olds, they are actually more than a quarter of the registered voters and they are only 9% of the ballots returned.”
PDI expects the 2024 Presidential Election turnout statewide to be around 75-80%, much higher than the expected 40-45% for only the gubernatorial election.
The higher turnout influences not only the presidential race but various statewide and local races and ballot measures. Voting has only gotten simpler, no matter where you are.
“You can vote in any county in the state if you have your ballot and you need to drop it off,” said Mitchell. “So, let's say as an example, you live in Sacramento and work in Davis. And you remember, ‘Oh my gosh, my ballots in the car.’ Do not worry about racing across the causeway to return your ballot. Take it to any local dropbox in Yolo County and it will get counted.”
Early, in-person voting in Sacramento County opens Saturday.
For more information on vote centers or ballot drop-off locations, visit abc10.com/vote.
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