WHEN PEOPLE VOTE-AND WHEN THEY DON’T

Voter turnout Tuesday in Los Angeles County was the lowest for a presidential primary in the last quarter-century. With George Bush running unopposed on the Republican side and the Democratic race all but officially over, only 46% of the county’s voters showed up at the polls. The chart below shows voter turnout in the county for presidential and gubernatorial primary and general elections from 1968 to the present:

Year Turnout PRESIDENTIAL: Michael S. Dukakis vs. Jesse Jackson PRIMARY: June 1988 46.06% GUBERNATORIAL: George Deukmejian vs. Tom Bradley PRIMARY: June 1986 38.61% GENERAL: Nov. 1986 59.99% PRESIDENTIAL: Ronald Reagan vs. Walter F. Mondale PRIMARY: June 1984 49.30% GENERAL: Nov. 1984 73.87% GUBERNATORIAL: George Deukmejian vs. Tom Bradley PRIMARY: June 1982 52.95% GENERAL: Nov. 1982 69.72% PRESIDENTIAL: Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter PRIMARY: June 1980 64.17% GENERAL: Nov. 1980 76.55% GUBERNATORIAL: Edmund G. Brown Jr. vs. Evelle J. Younger PRIMARY: June 1978 74.09% GENERAL: Nov. 1978 68.67% PRESIDENTIAL: Jimmy Carter vs. Gerald R. Ford PRIMARY: June 1976 71.24% GENERAL: Nov. 1976 81.08% GUBERNATORIAL: Edmund G. Brown Jr. vs. Houston I. Flournoy PRIMARY: June 1974 51.69% GENERAL: Nov. 1974 62.60% PRESIDENTIAL: Richard M. Nixon vs. George S. McGovern PRIMARY: June 1972 68.93% GENERAL: Nov. 1972 80.43% GUBERNATORIAL: Ronald Reagan vs. Jesse Unruh PRIMARY: June 1970 61.32% GENERAL: Nov. 1970 75.52% PRESIDENTIAL: Richard M. Nixon vs. Hubert H. Humphrey PRIMARY: June 1968 71.34% GENERAL: Nov. 1968 86.24% GUBERNATORIAL: Ronald Reagan vs. Edmund G. Brown Sr. PRIMARY: June 1966 64.13% GENERAL: Nov. 1966 79.55% PRESIDENTIAL: Lyndon B. Johnson vs. Barry M. Goldwater PRIMARY: June 1964 70.86% GENERAL: Nov. 1964 88.91%

Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder