When all the votes are finally counted, election experts say turnout will approach 50 percent of registered voters, which is just below the previous all-time low for a gubernatorial election set in 2002. "We believe that we are in an era of low voter turnout," said pollster Mark Baldassare with the Public Policy Institute of California. Statewide voter turnout has declined steadily in the past decade.

In 1994, 60 percent of California's registered voters cast ballots in the state's gubernatorial race. In 2002 that number hit a record low, dropping to 50.57 percent.  Tuesday the secretary of state's office said voter turnout figures for the 2006 general election are at 48 percent, though it's expected that number will rise slightly when all the votes are finally counted. Still, those numbers are lower than earlier predications. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson had predicted the voter turnout would be closer to 55 percent.

Once again Amador County turn out is dramatically above the state level with a preliminary turn out of 69.28 percent. Amador County typically leads the state in turn out and this election was no different for our patriotic county. The June Primary election saw numbers of around 58.36 percent voter turn out here in the county. Voter turn out for the November 2005 election was nearly the same as this November’s turnout at 69.15 percent.