A record number of Santa Cruz County voters cast ballots in the Nov. 6 midterm election, according to the ongoing count of all returned ballots.
Some 119,021 voters cast ballots — about 74 percent of registered voters — according to Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin.
The election set a third county record as more voters than ever before opted to vote by mail. About 25,000 vote-by-mail ballots — 21 percent of all votes — remained to be counted as of Thursday evening, and results may not be certified before the Dec. 6 deadline, according to Pellerin.
More than 2,000 voters took advantage of same-day voter registration in Santa Cruz County, nearly half of whom registered at UC Santa Cruz’s voting center.
Results in most local races have remained stable as more votes are tallied, but close Santa Cruz City Council races could still change.
Santa Cruz City Council candidate Greg Larson, a late entry to the race, remains in third place, with three open seats.
Progressive candidate Drew Glover now sits in fourth place with 8,008 votes, while Larson remains in third with 8,136 votes.
Council candidates Donna Meyers and Justin Cummings remain in first and second place with about 1,000 votes more than Larson.
