Sonoma County election officials said that only about 30 percent of local voters participated in Tuesday's primary election, fulfilling projections that statewide turnout could reach a new low.
About 2,000 mail-in ballots were either received by mail or dropped off at the Registrar of Voters office in Santa Rosa on Tuesday. As of Monday, voters had returned 57,300 mail-in ballots, less than a third of the 173,000 sent out.
Results early Wednesday showed that about 30 percent of the registered voters in Sonoma County had cast their votes, with 22 percent coming in the form of mail-in ballots and nearly 8 percent heading to the polls.
There are 242,000 registered voters in Sonoma County, and 72,542 votes were cast.
"It's still hard to tell without seeing precinct numbers, but we had steady flow throughout the day. I'd like to think we'll get to 40 percent, but we have to wait and see," Assistant Registrar of Voters Gloria Colter said Tuesday.
Mail-in ballots received by Monday were counted, but those dropped off on Election Day will be tallied in a process that can take as many as 28 days, Colter said.
Ballots cast in person at each precinct are trucked to the registrar's office, where they are counted on election night.
The past two primary elections in Sonoma County, in 2010 and 2012, drew 51 percent and 47 percent of voters, respectively.
The state's lowest primary turnout was 28.2 percent in 2008. Pollsters said turnout for Tuesday's election could approach that number.
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