SP voter turnout low: Davis out, Schwarzenegger in by wide margin

October 10, 2003
Santa Paula News

Californians flocked to the polls to vote against Gov. Gray Davis and for newly elected Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger but the projected turnout still fell far short of pre-balloting predictions.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesCalifornians flocked to the polls to vote against Gov. Gray Davis and for newly elected Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger but the projected turnout still fell far short of pre-balloting predictions.Although provisional ballots cast Tuesday or absentee ballots received the same day have yet to be counted, there is no doubt of the outcome of the state’s contentious recall that yanked Davis from his office just one year into his second - and due to term limits, last - term.Santa Paula voters - assured that all polling places would be open Tuesday - fell short of 50 percent ballots cast with only 49.5 percent turning thumbs up or down on Election Day and picking a replacement for Davis, the forgotten man of his own recall.The countywide average for voter turnout was 54.8 percent, a number dwarfed by Thousand Oaks, which had a 61.2 percent turnout.
Oxnard had the lowest voter turnout in the county with just 44.1 percent, while Port Hueneme saw just 46.9 percent vote. Fillmore had a 53 percent turnout, a number exceeded by the balance of the county’s other cities.Overall, Ventura County strongly supported the recall and the moderate Republican Schwarzenegger, although not all cities saw across the board tallies: 2,595 Santa Paulans voted to remove Davis and 2,338 voted against the recall, but voters narrowly selected Democratic Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante over Schwarzenegger, 1,941 to 1,733. Conservative Sen. Tom McClintock placed third locally with 828 votes.Countywide, the recall - which statewide was approved by about 54 percent - drew the support of 63 percent of the voters, with 122,435 voting yes and 71,528 no.Oxnard and Ojai were the only two of the county’s 10 cities to cote against the recall with narrow margins.Schwarzenegger garnered 97,003 county votes, Bustamante 45,022 and McClintock 36,570.



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