At last week’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting, the county Registrar of Voters reported the precinct results from the Nov. 6 election.
Hill voters were generally of a similar mind as voters throughout the local districts and the county. However, there were a few noticeable differences and the most striking was the local turnout.
Hill precincts all had a greater percentage of registered voters casting ballots than the county or statewide. The total turnout in the state and county was 71 percent of voters cast ballots.
On the Hill, Garner Valley, Idyllwild and Pine Cove residents turned out in numbers greater than 80 percent of registered voters. Although the Mountain Center result was 77 percent, it still exceeded the countywide percentage by 6 percent.
Nearly eight out of every nine Garner Valley voters cast a ballot this year. Despite the greater civic interest on the Hill, almost everywhere, Riverside County or the Hill, the turnout was less than 2008 turnout. For example, in 2012, 88 percent of Garner Valley voters submitted ballots, which was four percent less than the 92 percent cast in 2008.
Countywide turnout was seven percent less than four years ago and down in each Hill precinct except for Idyllwild. Here the turnout was slightly more, 85.1 percent compared to 84.9. Since the number of registered voters declined, the actual number of voters was about 100 fewer.
While the four Hill neighborhoods generally were in agreement in all the races, Idyllwild stood differently on both the 36th Congressional District and Proposition 30. For the first time in years, the majority of Idyllwild voters supported Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s challenger — Dr. Raul Ruiz, the winner. The other Hill areas continue to vote for the incumbent.
Idyllwild was also the only precinct to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax increases — Prop 30 — and also had the highest percentage of voters in favor of Hemet School District’s Measure U.
