Today is a primary election day in California with a host of races from local level to state offices and some federal races as well. California is a large state, with about 37 million residents. However, less than half of that number are registered voters and turnout – especially in primary elections without a presidential campaign – can be low. Below is a quick summary calculation of the current population and expected turnout for this election.
As the above shows, to win a given office a candidate would likely be able to do so with around 10% of the population voting for them. Of course this is dependent on the turnout in a given election, how many candidates are in a race, and a number of other variables. It does seem a relatively useful benchmark for estimating how many votes are needed in a given race to likely win.
If you live in California and haven’t voted yet please consider taking a moment and doing so. With the increasing amount of mail-in options there has never been an easier time to vote than we have today.
