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Posted inLocal News

Voter turnout in San Francisco for primary election hit 46.6 percent, lowest since 2012

by Pete Young, Bay City News March 25, 2024March 25, 2024

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The City Hall of San Francisco, Calif., on July 13, 2021. (Bay City News file photo)

Final figures show 46.6 percent of San Francisco voters turned out for the March 5 election, the lowest for a primary since 2012.

A total of 233,465 ballots were cast in a city with 500,856 registered voters, the San Francisco Department of Elections certified Friday.

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President Joe Biden won 89.9 percent of 166,816 Democratic votes.

Republicans cast 19,175 ballots, with former President Donald Trump winning 62.6 percent. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received 35.5 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 2.9 percent.

In the 2008 primary election, turnout was 64.7%, according to elections department records. The primaries that year were won by Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain.

The lowest previous presidential primary turnout was 30.8 percent in 2012, when the party flag-bearers were Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

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Almost nine out of 10 ballots this year were vote-by-mail; 27,929 people cast ballots in person on Election Day, the department said. In previous primary years, turnout was 42.5 percent in 2004, 56.5 percent in 2016 and 60.5 percent in 2020.

Tagged: ballots, Democrats, Donald Trump, Election 2024, Election Day, Nikki Haley, politics, President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, presidential primary, primary election, Ron DeSantis, San Francisco, San Francisco Department of Elections, voter turnout, voters

Local News Matters brings community coverage to the SF Bay Area so that the people, places and topics that deserve more attention get it. Our nonprofit newsroom is supported by the generosity of readers like you via tax-deductible donations to Bay City News Foundation.

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