LAKE COUNTY — Citizens lined up at the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office on Monday, the last day to register for the Nov. 4 general election. Between forms filled out or dropped off at the counter and forms received in the mail that day, Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said 324 people registered.
“There”s a lot of interest in this election. Most voters mention that they want to vote for president, and there is also the local supervisor race in District 1,” Fridley said.
Out of 33,143 registered voters, 34 percent voted in the June Primary. Fridley said she is predicting a markedly higher turnout for the Nov. 4 presidential election.
“Four years ago, we had a 75 percent turnout. I”m predicting at least a 75 percent turnout this time,” Fridley said.
Voters will decide who will be the next District 1 Supervisor and who will fill open seats on the Clearlake City Council and the Lakeport City Council in the Nov. 4 election. All three races are non-partisan, according to Fridley.
Voter registration countywide is up 3.9 percent from registration in the June Primary. In District 1, voter registration has jumped 8 percent since January, and leads voter registration increases in all five supervisor districts and both cities. The next highest registration increase is 7.2 percent in the City of Clearlake.
“It”s increased throughout the county. Historically, presidential elections have the greatest turnout and the most interest,” Fridley said.
Staff members in the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office are busy counting vote-by-mail ballots as they arrive daily and over the counter with less than two weeks to go until Election Day.
As of Monday, 4,270 voters had cast their mark using a vote-by-mail ballot, 12.4 percent of the total possible vote. Fridley said the number of people who vote by mail increases with every election.
Republican Jim Comstock and Democrat Susanne La Faver are running for the District 1 Supervisor seat. At least 12 percent of the registered voters in District 1 had returned a ballot as of Friday. Along party lines, 3,120 Democrats were registered to vote in the district as of Oct. 17, and 2,297 Republicans were registered.
The division mirrors the numbers of registered Democrats and Republicans countywide.
In the June Primary, 42.1 percent of the registered Democrats voted, and 39.7 percent of the registered Republicans voted.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
