California voters are as diverse equally its geography, from mountain ranges to valley farmland to forests and beaches. So a expect at official voting results released this month shows notable differences in who turned out, how we voted, and where we voted.

More than half of California'due south record 17.8 million ballots cast came from just v counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, and Santa Clara. That'south partly because most of our counties are modest and reported fewer than 100,000 voters this election.

The larger, urban areas typically rolled out new gadgets and relied more on polling places or vote centers. In mountainous counties similar Siskiyou, voters preferred to vote by mail. Along the southern border, many Imperial County residents faced language barriers.

The various state makes for varied voter outcomes in turnout and registration rates. Who knew Alpine County would cast the fewest ballots? Or San Bernardino would have the lowest registration rate amidst the largest counties? Or that the counties with the lowest turnout would have the highest in-person voting? We dug into the Secretary of State's data from the recent election and from the 2016 general election to show the numbers backside this autumn'southward vote.

For purposes of this data dive, percents are rounded off. In addition, we considered minor counties to be those with upwards to 99,999 voters this election, medium-sized counties between 100,000 and 499,999, and big counties above 500,000. That made for 31 small counties, 18 medium-sized, and 9 large ones.

Follow along for a fast await at our state's election results.

Where were the most — and least — ballots cast?

Los Angeles County didn't just cast the most ballots in California, information technology cast the almost of any local jurisdiction in the nation, according to the county's registrar. Tiny Alpine County, which borders Nevada but due east of Sacramento and due south of Lake Tahoe, didn't even crack one,000 ballots.

Los Angeles County: 4.34 one thousand thousand ballots cast

Alpine County: 749 ballots cast

Counties with the highest registered voter turnout

Statewide, well-nigh 81% of registered voters turned out to vote, a rate non seen since Led Zeppelin'due south heyday and Jimmy Carter'south presidential win in 1976. The counties below helped California boost its civic date.

Small counties Medium-sized counties Large counties
Nevada County 89% Sonoma County 90% Orangish County 87%

Counties with the lowest registered voter turnout

But not all is golden in California election turnout — and some counties were beneath boilerplate. In some cases, such as with Los Angeles, tallying record numbers of ballots didn't translate to voters turning out at high levels. Low turnout areas tend to be lower income, less educated, and more ethnically various, a Votebeat assay showed.

Small counties Medium-sized counties Big counties
Imperial County 68% Kern County 73% Los Angeles Canton 75%

Counties with highest vote-by-mail ballot utilise

When Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992, nearly a fifth of California voters had used their vote-by-mail service (or absentee) election to vote. That number has been increasing since so. The pandemic this year prompted California to mail all registered voters their ballot, driving the number to 87%. Here'due south a caveat about where more voters used mailed ballots: counties are allowed to count mailed ballots that are dropped off at vote centers or drop boxes in this category. Our assay hither excludes three small counties that already exclusively voted by mail — Alpine, Sierra, and Plumas — every bit well every bit six counties that counted every ballot equally vote past mail even if cast in person. Those counties include Lassen, Sutter, Mariposa, Stanislaus, Trinity, and Merced.

Minor counties Medium-sized counties Large counties
Mendocino Canton 99% Butte County 96% Santa Clara County 93%

Counties with most voters voting in-person

Despite the pandemic and social distancing concerns, some voters did non trust their ballot would be counted if they cast it through the post. Or, they needed assistance voting or just like to vote in person. While information technology is not conclusive, some studies accept linked vote-by-mail to college turnout. So it makes sense that Regal Canton and Los Angeles Canton — both with lower turnout — would caput the list of in-person voting.

Pocket-size counties Medium-sized counties Big counties
Imperial County 38% Tulare Canton 15% Los Angeles County 21%
(acme 3rd statewide)

Counties with largest turnout increase and decrease from 2016

This is a category where it didn't matter if a county was urban or rural —almost all saw a bump in registered voter turnout compared to the 2016 general election. Simply three counties (Imperial, Tulare, and Plumas) actually reported decreases in turnout, fifty-fifty every bit they saw higher than average registration growth. An Imperial Canton spokesperson said, "in that location were too many of our voters that were not accustomed to receiving mail-in ballots." In Plumas, a BallotTrax program dislocated voters by sending canned letters nearly polling places, despite having none.

San Joaquin County: largest increment Imperial County: biggest decrease
From 69% in 2016 to 80% in 2020 From 70% in 2016 to 68% in 2020

Who's doing the best job of registering voters?

About 88% of eligible Californians are now registered to vote. The terminal time California topped that figure was in 1940 when it surpassed 96%, an analysis of historic data shows. A big and growing population might make it difficult to continue registration levels high, only some counties show information technology can be done.

Highest Voter Registration Charge per unit: Marin County 97%

Lowest Registration Rate: Merced County 72%

Highest Voter Registration Rate by County size:

Pocket-size counties Medium-sized counties Large counties
Nevada Canton 96% Marin County 97% Los Angeles County 95%

Lowest Voter Registration Rate by County Size:

Small counties Medium-sized counties Large counties
Merced County 72% Tulare County 75% San Bernardino County 83%

Where registration rates have improved — and gone due south

The expert news for virtually all counties is that they increased their voter registration charge per unit since the 2016 general election — with one notable exception. San Francisco'south registration rate decreased by one per centum bespeak to 78% this election wheel. Tiny Alpine Canton, however, outdid the rest of the state when it reported the biggest increase, jumping xviii percentage points from 76% to 94%. Amidst large counties, San Bernardino shifted the most, jumping xv percentage points from 68% to 83%.

Small counties Medium-sized counties Large counties
Tall County
eighteen per centum points
From 76% in 2016 to 94% in 2020		 Tulare County
xvi percentage points
From 59% in 2016 to 75% in 2020		 San Bernardino Canton
fifteen percentage points
From 68% in 2016 to 83% in 2020

This is why every vote matters

In Orange County, one voter wrongly marked the choice for a schoolhouse board candidate outside the designated box. The upshot was a literal necktie, leaving the seat's fate up to the school district.

Five—yes, but five— votes made the difference in the Santee City Quango race, giving the nod to Republican Dustin Trotter. Thirty-six ballots were excluded from the original count for reasons including missing or mismatched signatures and a postmark after election day.

This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project roofing local ballot integrity and voting access. In California, CalMatters is hosting the collaboration with the Fresno Bee, the Long Beach Post and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

This story was updated to clarify the 5 counties that made up more than one-half the state's tape ballots cast.

Michael is a reporter for CalMatters' Votebeat project. Roofing immigration and diversity, his previous articles accept been syndicated and translated into multiple languages via New America Media, ImpreMedia,...