Early voter turnout in Merced County better than expected

Early turnout in Merced County's primary election seemed higher than expected Tuesday, according to the registrar of voters.

Vote-by-mail ballots came in at a healthy rate, according to Registrar Barbara Levey, and voters streaming through the polling places were seen at a steady pace.

"It's not overwhelming by any means for anybody. We haven't heard any complaints of lines," she said Tuesday afternoon. "But, it's been steady. It's not quiet."

The registrar of voters sent out about 64,000 vote-by-mail ballots and have so far received about 11,000, Levey said. That's roughly 17 percent that have been returned and verified. Absentee ballots that are dropped off today or placed in the mail in time have not been counted.

Levey said those numbers exceeded her expectation for a gubernatorial election, which routinely sees low turnout in Merced County. She was quick to say the real turnout has yet to be seen and won't be known for days.

The past few gubernatorial races have seen a turnout in the county between 25 percent and 28 percent, Levey said.

Voter activity in the Los Banos area seemed better than usual, she said, likely thanks to the new vote center. New this year, the vote center can accept ballots from voters despite where they live and offers a number of other services not available at the typical polling place, Levey said.

The Voting Center began taking ballots on Saturday.

Turnout in Fresno County showed Republican ballots outnumber Democrats by around 8,000. About 50 percent of Republican by-mail ballots have already been returned, while 34 percent of Democratic ballots have been counted.

About 18 percent of mail-in ballots have been returned in the state's 16th District, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans by about 3,400. In the 21st District, around 19 percent of early ballots are in. Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 1,500 so far, but that's not surprising given the district's demographics.

The top two candidates in California congressional races, regardless of party, move on to the November general election.

The Fresno Bee contributed to this report.

This story was originally published June 5, 2018 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Early voter turnout in Merced County better than expected."