Written by by Leslie Eastman at legalinsurrection.com
While I drank mojitos in the Caribbean, California was part of the Super Tuesday fun. The national results were mostly expected, but a few intriguing developments specific to California have arisen in the wake of the primary election.
First of all, the voter turnout was exceedingly low…and the ballots still have yet to be counted entirely, even weeks after the election.
The latest official tally from the Secretary of State’s office shows that more than 5.8 million ballots have been counted from California’s primary, with 1.7 million still to go.
Based on today’s updated umbers, the total of 7.5 million votes means a turnout of about 34%, well below the norm for presidential primaries, but not the record low that some analysts projected based on early numbers.
It also means that it’s going to be a while before some results are finalized, likely amplifying complaints that it takes too long to count votes in California. While voting by mail has been happening for a month, as long as ballots were postmarked by last Tuesday and they arrive at elections offices by this Tuesday, they will be counted. As expected, the votes being counted after primary day are trending more Democratic and younger.
Interestingly, over 10% of the voters choosing the Democratic presidential candidate chose an obscure one rather than the current occupant of the Oval Office. Given Biden’s performance in Saginaw, Michigan, and this apparent lack of enthusiasm for him in Deep Blue California, the angst among Democratic political leaders is palpable.
However, there is even more fallout from the California primary that is unanticipated. California Gov. Gavin Newsom had initially scheduled to give the “State of the State” address hard on the heels of Biden’s execrable State of the Union address, likely to contrast his energy and appeal to those of the decrepitude that is Biden.
However, Newsom didn’t count on his signature Proposition 1 measure, fighting to survive an extremely close ballot count.