By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media
On Dec. 13, California Secretary of State (SOS) Shirley N. Weber officially certified the Nov. 5 General Election results from all 58 counties.
The SOS reported that 16,140,044 (71.43% of registered voters) ballots were cast in this past election. The total number of votes this year was down from the Nov. 3, 2020 vote count which was 17,785,15 or 80.67% –by nearly nine percentage points (according to Weber’s “Statement of Vote: General Election Nov. 5, 2024” report.
Among the statewide election statistics reported by the Secretary of State’s Office 13,034,378 vote-by-mail ballots were cast, while 3,105,666 ballots were cast at voting locations.
Two days before the certification, Weber held a news briefing with media publications. During the conference, held on Zoom, Weber shared details about the process of certifying votes.
Weber said, although there were minor issues and “glitches,” overall the election process in the state ran accordingly.
“There were instances and things that happened, but they did not stop the election. We did not have people lose confidence and not go to the polls to vote,” Weber said.
“There were minor glitches that took place, but we addressed each one of them and nothing seemed to linger in regard to people who wanted to vote and participate in the process which was evident by the generous turnout that we had,” said Weber.
The Public Policy Institute of California reported on Nov. 18 that the decline in votes is notable because there were more registered voters in 2024 than in 2020. PPIC estimated that 1.7 million fewer ballots were cast in 2024, despite having 550,000 more registered voters and 1.8 million more eligible residents than in 2020.
Weber acknowledged the decrease in voter participation compared to the November 2020 election, but she said California’s voters’ registration was higher than the rest of the country.
“Nationally, the 2024 registrations are at 63%. So, we are higher (at 70%) than the national average,” Weber said. “Despite what people might say, we are still in the lead regarding voter turnout, participation, and registration with the largest population in the United States.”
