San Mateo County Voting Trends...

Much has been said about increased voter registration and increased interest in this election. That isn't just true in Virginia, or Florida, or Missouri. It is also true in San Mateo County too.

Here are some details you may not know (all info as of 10.28.08):

Total Number of Registered Voters in San Mateo County:

2000: 338,608
2004: 368,410
2008: 389,717

There are 21,307 more registered voters in the County now than their were in 2004. More strikingly, and not reflected in those numbers: 27,199 of the 389,717 voters registered in the County in September and October. That means nearly 30,000 new registrants (or about 7%) will be voting in the County for the first time on Tuesday.

Total Past Election Turn-Out - % Voter Turnout:

2000: 261,297 - 77%
2004: 288,533 - 78%
2008: So far, 58,869 (about 15%) of registered voters have voted (as of 10.28).

To give some reference, that is about 1/2 of the total number of people that voted absentee in 2004 and most people who vote absentee wait until the very end to get their ballots in...meaning, a huge number of people will have already voted by the time the polls open. If local campaigns didn't get information out early, they might be in trouble.

"What does this mean?," you ask...

There are a lot of newly registered voters in the County. Turnout will be huge. Many people have already voted, but many, many more will have voted by election day. Get to the polls early if you need to vote on election day and tell you boss that Watch Dog says you have permission to be late.

(A big thank you for the Watch Dog reader "Pink" who provided all the detailed numbers...)