Final Marin vote count in for March election

Marin County Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts posted the final local results from the March 5 election on Wednesday.

Even though less than half of the votes had been counted by election night, the outcomes of all the races remained unchanged throughout the subsequent count.

Roberts said turnout in Marin was the third lowest in the past six statewide primary elections. Of the 169,893 voters registered in Marin, 90,757 cast ballots resulting in a turnout of just over 53%.

Marin turnout in the 2022 statewide primary was just under 50% and the turnout in 2014 was nearly 41%. The turnout for the county’s primaries in 2016, 2018 and 2020 ranged between 68% and 70%.

Roberts, however, is forecasting higher interest in the upcoming presidential election.

“As for turnout in November, we anticipate a turnout close to the 2020 general election, which was over 90%,” she said.

In the race to determine who will succeed Supervisor Katie Rice, San Anselmo Councilmember Brian Colbert ended up with 43.16% of the vote. Heather McPhail Sridharan finished in second place with 26.27%. Larkspur Councilman Gabe Paulson came in third with 16.23%, and Ryan O’Neil finished fourth with 14.33%.

Colbert needed to secure a simple majority to win outright; that means he and McPhail Sridharan will face off in a November runoff.

Measure D, which affirms implementation of a rent-control ordinance in Larkspur, passed with 51.93% approval. It needed a simple majority to pass. On Election Day the measure was passing with less than 1% of the vote to spare, but it steadily gained ground as more votes came in.

Measure A, a $517 million bond measure proposed for the Tamalpais Union High School District, failed to pass. It finished with 53.76% of the vote, but it needed 55% support to win.

Both the opponents of Measure D and the supporters of Measure A had sizable financial backing.

Measure F, which asked San Anselmo residents if they wanted to withdraw the town from Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Zone 9, succeeded with 59.37% of the voters giving their consent. The measure required a simple majority to pass.

Roberts said the state has until April 12 to certify the final vote counts in statewide races. She said that as of March 27 turnout statewide stood at 34%.