What was Sonoma’s voter turnout in 2022 midterm elections?

The voters in the city of Sonoma turned out in better numbers than the county overall in 2022, but also reported the lowest number of votes since the 2016 election, according to Sonoma County Registrar of Voters.

“There were 5,625 ballots actually cast for the city of Sonoma, which is a 73.5% turnout — better than the county-wide turnout (65.9%),” said Deva Proto, Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor. “There were 12,682 votes cast for candidates in the city council race because everyone had up to three votes.”

An Index-Tribune review of records from the past four elections showed markedly higher voter turnout during presidential elections than the country overall or Sonoma County. When it comes to midterm elections, that number drops.

In the November 2016 general election, nearly nine in 10 registered voters in the city of Sonoma cast a ballot. By the 2018 midterm election, that number fell to 82.75%, a trend that tracks with national elections dating back to the 1840s, according to Pew Research.

In the hotly debated 2020 general election, 93.2% of registered voters in the city of Sonoma turned out to vote. But once again, come midterms this year, that number went down to 73.5%.

There is generally a 10-15% drop-off from presidential elections nationally, according to Pew Research statistics. But the 20% drop in voter turnout in 2022 from the previous election was a significant decline compared to recent years.

Contact Chase Hunter at chase.hunter@sonomanews.com and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.