Indiana Secretary of State

Secretary of State Releases Primary Election Voter Turnout Report

Early voting continues to rise in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (June 2, 2014) — Today, Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced that 13 percent or 617,156 of Indiana’s 4.5 million registered voters cast a vote in the May 6 Primary Elections. Indiana saw more Hoosiers opt for early voting during the 2014 Primary Election. During the primary, 16 percent of voters who cast a ballot voted early, compared to 12 percent in 2012 and 11 percent in 2010 and 2008.

“I believe our actual voter turnout numbers may be higher than 13 percent,” said Secretary Lawson. “We are currently in the process of updating our voter list, which will give us clear data on Indiana’s real voter turnout numbers in future elections.”

Indiana saw an increase in the number of counties moving to the cost-saving vote center model. During the primary election, 16 counties chose to use vote centers compared to 7 in the 2012 election cycle. As a state senator, Secretary Lawson authored legislation giving counties the option to establish vote centers, which has the potential to significantly improve efficiency and reduce county election costs. Vote centers consolidate multiple precincts into a single location, allowing counties the opportunity to save on costs associated with hiring poll workers and purchasing voting machines and supplies. Vote center counties also had 13 percent of voters cast ballots in the Primary Election.  

“As I traveled throughout Indiana on Election Day, I was impressed with how counties have deployed their vote center operation plans,” said Secretary Lawson.  “Voters showed a positive reaction to the change and appreciated the flexibility in choosing where to vote.”

The complete 2014 Primary Election Turnout and Absentee Chart with voter statistics for each county can be viewed online at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/primary14/2014PrimaryTurnout.pdf. The report was compiled by the Election Division of the Secretary of State’s office from voter data gathered in Indiana’s 92 counties.

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Contact Information:
Name: Valerie Kroeger

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June Primary Results Certified, Showing
Record-Low Turnout and Record-High Vote-by-Mail Rate

SACRAMENTO - Final statewide election results certified today show that just 25.2% of registered California voters participated in the June 3 primary election. It was the lowest voter turnout for any statewide election in California; the previous low was 28.2% in June 2008.

The June primary set another record: more than 69% of all participating voters cast their ballots by mail. Previously, the highest percentage of vote-by-mail ballots cast in a statewide election was 65% in the June 2012 primary election. Sierra and Alpine counties are the only California counties that conduct all elections entirely by mail.

For each statewide election in California, county elections officials have 31 days to report their final results to the Secretary of State. The Secretary then publishes the certified Statement of Vote for the entire state on the 38th day after Election Day. The certified June 2014 election results, including county-by-county data and historical statistics on voter turnout, are at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2014-primary.

"There is no doubt the turnout number is disappointing, but if ever there was a statewide election where every vote mattered, this was certainly it," said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, California's chief elections official. "If there is any silver lining, I hope it's a reminder to people who didn't vote in June to take note of close results such as the State Controller contest and commit to going to the polls in November."

The Secretary of State will publish a Supplement to the Statement of Vote by November 8. The supplement will include details about how votes were cast by each city and each legislative, congressional, county supervisorial district, and Board of Equalization district.

Keep up with the latest California election news and trivia by following @CASOSvote on Twitter. To sign up for ballot measure updates via email, RSS feed or Twitter, go to www.sos.ca.gov/multimedia.

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