Santa Fe Has Better Voting Record Than ABQ

Final election results from the Santa Fe city clerk indicate that fewer than a third of the city's registered voters took the trouble to cast their ballots in this year's mayoral election, a number that's fairly consistent with previous mayoral elections.

Of the city's 57,905 registered voters eligible for the March 4 municipal election, just 17,016 voted to choose a new mayor, putting the turnout number at 29 percent.

Although the turnout number that resulted in the election of Mayor Javier Gonzales isn't high, it beats the 2010 mayoral election number of 27 percent (or 12,849 out of 46,990 registered voters at the time). That year, incumbent Mayor David Coss won reelection by a wide margin.

In 2006, when Coss won his first mayoral term, the turnout was similar to this year with 30 percent of registered voters who came out to vote in the election (or 15,434 out of 50,631 eligible voters). The 2002 mayoral election had a higher turnout at 38 percent, though just 44,108 voters were registered at the time. That year, voters approved incumbent Mayor Larry Delgado to a second term.

Santa Fe's turnout rate still fared better than Rio Rancho's mayoral election on last week, which saw 12 percent of registered voters cast a ballot. Similarly, Albuquerque's mayoral election last October saw a 20 percent turnout rate.

Santa Fe Reporter