November 4, 2024 -- At the start of Election Day Tuesday, 59 percent of Santa Monica voters had not returned ballots, according to PDI, a California election data service.
Of the 69,228 local ballots provided by the LA County Registrar's office, 29,066 early ballots had been returned by mail or at voting centers, PDI reported.
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That leaves 40,162 unreturned ballots that will determine the results of national, state and local elections, including the hotly contested race for four City Council seats.
Voters 50 and older, who make up 49 percent of registered voters,
account for the majority of the returned ballots -- 17,458 -- or a return rate of 60 percent.
Those under 50 years of age account for 53 percent of registered voters and have returned 11,604 ballots, a 41 percent return rate.
White voters, who make up 81 percent of registered voters, have returned 16,528 ballots, or 80 percent; Latino voters, who account for 11 percent of registered voters, have returned 2,095 ballots, or 11 percent.
Meanwhile, Asians, who account for 7 percent of registered voters, have returned 1,578 ballots or 8 percent, and Black voters, who account for 3 percent of registered voters, have returned 711 ballots, or a 4 percent rate.
Of voters who have returned ballots, 19,268, or 67 percent are Democrats, who comprise 61 percent of registered voters, while 3,441, or 12 percent, are Republicans, who comprise 12 percent of registered voters.
The balance -- 6,357 or 22 percent -- are members of other parties, who account for 29 percent of registered voters, according to PDI.
Among women, who make up 51 percent of registered voters, 53 percent have returned ballots, compared to 46 percent of men, who account for 47 percent of registered voters. The remainder -- 650 -- are "unknown."
In the 2016 General Election, 51,662 of Santa Monica's 68,644 registered voters, or 75.3 percent, cast ballots. Of those, 21,740 voted by mail.
In the 2020 General Election, 56,936 of the city's 71,970 registered voters, or 79.1 percent, cast ballots.
Of those, a record 47,308, or 83 percent of those who cast ballots, mailed them in during the coronavirus shutdown.