Here’s how Sacramento County Registrar of Voters Jill LaVine sums up this election so far:
 
LaVine: “It’s been so busy I don’t think we’ve had time to think about what we’re doing.”
 
And …
 
LaVine: “Everything we have touched this year has been a record.”
 
For example: There are now almost 685,000 registered voters in Sacramento County.  More than 70,000 new voters have registered since the presidential primary in early February; nearly 90,000 in the last year.  And vote-by-mail ballots?
 
LaVine: “Right now we have 43 percent of our voters requesting vote-by-mail ballots, and yes, that is up.  We were just right around the 33 percent last big election.” 
 
As of Wednesday, nearly a fifth of Sacramento County’s registered voters had already mailed their ballots in.  LaVine’s office won’t predict overall turnout yet.  But it does expect it to be above 80 percent – the highest in 44 years.