12.8% Cast Ballots by 1 P.M., Slightly Behind ’81 Rate

An estimated 12.8% of Los Angeles’ registered voters had gone to the polls by 1 p.m. today, but a spokesman for the City Clerk’s office predicted the turnout will rise to 35% to 45% by the time the polls close at 8 tonight.

In 1981, on the day of the last mayoral election, 14.8% of the voters had already gone to the polls by 1 p.m. The total turnout that day reached 37.1%.

City election officials expect a burst of activity at the polls after 4 p.m., when many voters will begin getting off work.

The area with the highest turnout by early afternoon may have provided some hint of the strength of support for Mayor Tom Bradley’s effort to fend off a challenge by Councilman John Ferraro in the mayor’s bid for a history-making fourth term. The city’s highest turnout occurred in the South Central Los Angeles’ Ninth District, where 13.6% of the voters in Bradley’s old council district had come to the polls by then.