Ballot Count Not Over With Thousands of Votes Left to Verify

There are still thousands of ballots left to count, even though the polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

In Santa Barbara County, Clerk-Recorder, Assessor Joe Holland says there are still 25,000 vote by mail ballots and 5,000 provisional ballots left to be counted.

Statistically, these ballots are not expected to change the current results, based on the election night returns and other indicators, such as the districts where the ballots came in from.

Overall, on Election Day, 84,761 ballots were verified and counted.

The final numbers will be around 114,761 total cards out of a registration of 196,998.

That would put the turnout at 58 percent.

In November 2006 and 2010 turnout was 68 percent in each of those two elections.

The number of voters who cast a ballot at a polling place is noticeably down. The elections office says 30,802 people cast a ballot at the polls. That’s 369 per vote center and 175 per precinct.

It’s estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people dropped off a vote by mail in person at the polls, instead of sending it in.