There a few really great charts in today’s LA Times article about our ever-sinking voter turnout, including the one above. The Times shows that voter turnout in Mayoral runoffs increases an average of 18 percent from the primary. But according to sources we’ve spoken with, voter turnout in School Board District 6 next week could actually be lower than it...

Monday, April 22 is the first day Los Angeles voters will receive and can apply for vote-by-mail ballots for the May 21 East Valley District 6 runoff election, which means that campaigning will finally begin in earnest. (Go here to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot.) The election will pick between Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez...

The day after the March 5 primary election, a tired-looking Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mentioned off-hand that turnout for the LAUSD School Board elections was a dismal seven percent. A couple of weeks later on KPCC, he amended that number to 14 percent. So which is it? Neither, actually.  Voter turnout for the LAUSD races was initially reported...

In a new KPCC radio interview that aired earlier today, Mayor Villaraigosa surprised nobody touting his record on education — claiming to have doubled the number of schools at 800 and above in the API (academic performance index), for example — and taking aim at the notion that LAUSD should have an independent elected School...

Mark it on your calender: Important voter registration and vote-by-mail deadlines are coming up for Los Angeles’ May 21 runoff election for the District 6 seat on the LAUSD School Board: May 6, 2013 (Monday): The last day to register to vote in the May runoff election. (If you still haven’t registered, go here to register to vote...

Yesterday’s primary election attracted millions of dollars in outside spending, but it couldn’t attract Los Angeles voters’ attention. Citywide, only 16 percent of LA voters cast ballots at the polls, according to figures from the LA City Clerk’s office. This was far below initial expectations. According to political consultants LA School Report spoke with before...

Conventional wisdom is that voter turnout is always relatively low for local elections—especially so for school board races. And this is often true.  In off-year election cycles, when the only offices up for vote are City Council or Board seats, turnout can be as low as 11 percent.  Relatively small numbers of voters can sway...