Closer look at early voting numbers on eve of Election Day in California

SACRAMENTO — On election eve, early voting was pointing to historic turnout numbers. The picture is becoming clear of who is voting ahead of Election Day and who is not. 

Paul Mitchell with Political Data Incorporated crunched the numbers, which show that there is a wide gap between younger and older early voters. 

“We’re still getting data in, so we just got another little update,” Mitchell said. “Seniors are up to 58% turnout and young voters are at 18% turnout.” 

In California, 31% of registered voters have already cast their ballots as of the day before Election Day. 

Michelle Macey cast her ballot in Sacramento County, becoming one of the thousands to take part in early voting here. 

“I have to get my vote in,” Macey said. “I’m just nervous because it’s coming down to the wire.”

By county, Sacramento was also at 31%, while San Joaquin and Stanislaus were at 29%. 

“We still have an environment where older voters vote early and young voters vote late, and that means that campaigns right now are knocking on doors,” Mitchell said. 

Bill O’Neill, the El Dorado County registrar of voters, has watched his county’s early numbers thrive. 

“I think, right now, based on the number of ballots we’re processing, we’ll be number one pretty soon,” O’Neill said. 

The top three California counties for voter turnout so far were Amador at 52%, Nevada at 52%, and El Dorado at 48%. 

In El Dorado County, 70% of registered voters 65-plus have already cast their ballots. 

For those who are waiting until Election Day to cast their ballots, the political competition poses a different challenge. 

“There’s a saying, particularly on the Democratic side of races, that the opposition is not the Republican on the other side of the ticket. The opposition is the couch. It’s Kamala Harris versus the couch,” Mitchell said. 

So far, the numbers show Lake County has reported the fewest ballots returned so far with 13%.