Election Day Plagued With Low Voter Turnout

Despite a tense school board campaign, the polls in Glendora

According to numbers by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, 12.8 percent of registered voters in Glendora cast their ballots on Election Day. Of the 29,837 registered voters, 3,820 ballots were cast.

Voters in this year’s Glendora Unified School Board election re-elected Doris Blum and Doug Ferrell to the board. Incumbents Bob Cruz, Bob Akers and Joe Probst were also re-elected to the Charter Oak School Board.

With school board elections the only race on the ballot, many predicted a low voter turnout.

"Well, this election we expected it to be low at the polls,” said Antonio Corral, precinct inspector at the Tri-Community Adult School. “We're not getting voters like we did in previous elections."

Polls opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, but by 1 p.m. only 34 voters showed up to cast their ballots at that precinct.

The last school board election in 2009 fared only slightly better with 14.31 percent of registered voters showing up at the polls.

But local elections remain a tough sell.

“With no controversial measure, or any other race on the ballot, you’ll see a low turnout,” said Charter Oak School Board Member Joe Probst, who was re-elected to the board on Tuesday.

City Council elections also typically see low voter turnout, with March’s city council election seeing just 18 percent of the city’s registered voters.

But the value of one vote was apparent in this year’s school board election, where less than 70 votes determined the second and last open seat on the Glendora Unified School Board.

"I don't know what it is, but maybe they don't think it's that important an election, which is a mistake, obviously,” said Corral. “Every election is very important. It's important to select the right person for the right job."

Patch reporter Aaron Castrejon contributed to this report.