Election Sets New Santa Barbara County Record
No Brag, Just Fact — Voter Turnout Highest in Past Five Presidential Contests
The voter turnout in the November election set new land-speed records for Santa Barbara County, with 203,506 votes cast, or 86.5 percent, in terms of absolute number votes and in terms of percentage of registered voters who cast ballots.
Four years ago, 182,264 voters cast a ballot, or 81.7 percent. Four years before that — in 2012, the number was 164,977 or 80.9 percent. In 2008 — the year Barack Obama was first elected — the number was 176,562 or 86.4 percent. And in 2004, it was 171,564 or 80.5 percent.
Though County Elections czar Joe Holland had predicted a turnout in excess of 90 percent, the actual 86.5 percent is still the highest in the past five presidential races. Holland’s prediction did not materialize, he said, because so many more people registered to vote this year.
