Voting stations are set up at the Carrillo Recreation Center during the 2020 election.
Nearly 79% of Santa Barbara County residents who are eligible to vote are registered, according to a recent report from the California secretary of state.
Of the 299,059 individuals eligible, 234,772 are registered — meaning 78.5% of eligible voters are registered, the report found.
Registered Democrats make up the largest chunk of voters in Santa Barbara County (47.05%). Following are Republicans, who make up 24.85% of those registered, and people who do not have a party preference (21.18%).
Further breakdown showed American Independents account for 3.52% of those registered, Libertarians for 1.06%, people whose party is not known for 0.72%, Green for 0.48% and Peace and Freedom for 0.45%.
People who are 66 and older account for 25.37% of registered voters in Santa Barbara County. People 56-65 account for 16.49%, individuals 46-55 account for 12.69%, those 36-45 account for 13.65%, people 26-35 account for 17.27% and individuals 17.5-25 account for 14.54% of registered voters.
In all, more than 22 million people are registered to vote in California. That’s an increase of more than 3 million registered voters since a similar report was issued in April 2018, according to the secretary of state.
“I am proud that California voters are stepping up and registering to vote,” Secretary Shirley Weber said. “With universal vote-by-mail and other voting options, casting your ballot is easier than ever.”
Since the 2018 report, the percentage of California voters registered with a qualified political party increased from 74.12% to 76.03%. And the percentage of voters who did not have a party preference decreased from 25.11% to 22.77%.
In San Luis Obispo, 84.48% (182,829 out of 216,421) of eligible voters are registered. And the split between registered Democrats and Republicans is fairly narrow: 38.10% and 34.42% respectively.
In Ventura County, 86.45% (506,895 out of 586,358) of eligible voters are registered. Nearly 43.4% are registered Democrats, and 28.28% are registered Republicans.
In the 24th congressional district — which includes Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties — 439,947 people are registered to vote. Nearly 45.5% are registered Democrats, and 26.51% are registered Republicans.
The statewide primary election is scheduled for June 7.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
