California saw a record share of general election voters opt to cast their ballots by mail this year, with 51 percent of the state's 13.2 million participants using mail-in ballots.
The general election record, which still trails the state's all-time high of 65 percent mail-in ballots set in this year's primary, was announced Friday as Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office released the official statement of vote.
The numbers include vote-by-mail ballots dropped off at polling stations as late as Election Day.
In all, 72 percent of the state's 18.2 million registered voters participated in the general election Nov. 6.
That number is lower than the average turnout rate of 79 percent for presidential elections over the past century.
"While the election results show an increasing number of Californians rely on the convenience of voting by mail, 100 years of election data also demonstrate the fact that too many registered voters choose to sit elections out," Bowen said in a statement.
Bowen credited the state's new online voter registration system for helping boost the state's voter rolls to a record high ahead of Election Day.
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