The Ventura County Clerk and Recorder / Registrar of Voters recently launched a new website that has a really nice new look and feel. Check it out at recorder.countyofventura.org.

Here are some excerpts of what the 3 divisions (County Clerk, Recorder and Elections) of the County Clerk and Recorder office does from the website:

The County Clerk issues marriage licenses, performs civil marriage ceremonies, processes fictitious business name filings, and provides for the qualification and registration of notaries, process servers and miscellaneous statutory oaths and other filings.

The Recorder is responsible for the recording of deeds, deeds of trust, court decrees and other documents affecting title to real property in Ventura County.

The Elections Division conducts all Federal, State, County, school and special district elections in the County, as well as the general municipal elections for all 10 Ventura County cities. It also administers voter registration and outreach programs, among other duties.

I've seen the before and after of the County Clerk and Recorder website and have to say this was a dramatic transformation all around. Many websites receive facelifts on the home page but as you click through to sub-pages find old, outdated pages and broken links dispersed through the site. Not so in this case. Nice job!

The Elections Division section highlights current voter registration information right at the top of the site, which is a nice feature. For example, as of 5/21/12, there are 406,644 registered voters in the County, including 157,539 Democrat, 150,919, Republican, 77,994 Non-Partisan and 20,192 Other.

The 2012 Presidential Primary Election was yesterday. Although the Vote By Mail ballots aren't fully counted yet, the Election Results page indicates 101,986 ballots cast as 2 a.m. this morning (6/6/12); a 25.1% voter turnout. In the 6/3/08 Primary, voter turnout was 29.5% of 392,088 registered voters. Not a good trend to see.

Turnout in the 2012 General Presidential Election should increase dramatically. In 2008, there were 425,968 registered voters in the General Election (9% more than in the Primary) and voter turnout was nearly 81%, dramatically higher than in the Primary Election.

We can do better in terms of getting out the vote. The 2010 U.S. Census indicates Ventura County population of 823,813 in 2010 (men, take note that women outnumber you at 50.3% vs 49.7%). Roughly 74%, or 611,403, of the population is 18 or older. Assuming most of these people are U.S. Citizens and not in prison or jail for a felony conviction (roughly .5% of Californians are in jail), are eligible but not registered to vote.

So if 101,986 ballots were cast in the 2012 Primary Election for 611,403 Ventura County adults, if you DID vote, you voted on behalf of 6 County adults! Even in the 2008 General Election, each ballot cast represented the interests of nearly 2 voting age constituents.

Get out the vote...you can help change this situation by registering to vote at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/register-to-vote.