Paltry Turnout in Tuesday's Primaries

The County Registrar-Recorder/Clerks office reports that only 17.2 percent of registered voters in Los Angeles County cast ballots in Tuesday's primary elections, signficantly less than the number of voters that participated in the previous statewide primaries in 2008.

According to a press release provided by the Registrar-Recorder/Clerks office, only 765,552 percent of registered voters in Los Angeles County voted in Tuesday's elections. That percentage is down from 23.47 in 2010.

Voters in the city of Los Angeles—who had the opportunity to vote in State Assembly races, ballot measures regarding term limits and an increase on tobacco taxes, plus a local primary in the race for District Attorney—turned out in even lower numbers than the County average. According Patch's calculation, based on the votes cast by a community report provided by the Registrar-Recorder/Clerks office, only 15.6 percent of Los Angeles voters participated in the elections.

In the race for the 51st Assembly District, 22,264 votes were cast—a participation of just 12.3 percent of eligible voters.

Patch Asks: If you didn't vote, why not? If you did, what attracted you to the ballot booth?