Thumbs up: Voters rewrite the record book

Thumbs up for California voters and, especially, Sonoma County voters. On Friday, the secretary of state released the final tallies for the Nov. 6 election, and voter turnout approached record levels: 64.5 percent statewide and 78.1 percent in Sonoma County. That's the best statewide turnout for a midterm election since November 1982, when 69.7 percent of voters participated. And it is Sonoma County's best midterm election showing since 1970, when Press Democrat records show that 78.9 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

The big turnout is all the more remarkable considering the lack of competition for governor and other statewide offices.

If you're one of those disturbed by plethora of complicated ballot measures, especially the ones narrowly tailored for a single interest, there's a reward for voting in the midterm election. The number of signatures required to place an initiative on the ballot is based on the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. The turnout for the 2014 gubernatorial election was the worst since World War II, making it much easier to place an initiative on the ballot in 2016 and 2018 than any other recent election. That's about to change. Thumbs up to that, too.

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