Election 2016: Voters are turning out in larger numbers as registration surges

A voter stood in line at a Sherman Oaks polling place Tuesday, slightly bewildered.

“This is refreshing,” she said. “I’m usually the only one here.”

But not on this Tuesday.

Polling place workers were reporting decent tuout so far today across Los Angeles County for Califoia’s primary.

Based on early reports from about 30 stations across the county, the county was seeing about 11.6 percent tuout so far, said Monica Flores, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County Registrar’s Office.

In comparison, by the noon hour in the 2008 presidential primary tuout was about 16.2 percent.

But it was higher than the 2012 primary’s 7.5 percent during the noon hour.

“Tuout is definitely better than average,” Flores said. “We have good tuout so far. We do expect by end of day that it will be a little better than average.”

As interest in Califoia’s primary election has surged, so too has voter registration.

Nearly 18 million residents are able to vote, a primary election record.

They finally had their say Tuesday, casting ballots for presidential candidates, a new U.S. senator, and in local races.

Elysse Crabtree registered as a Democrat so she could vote for Sen. Beie Sanders. She called him a unifier as she left a polling station in Orange County.

Hoai Le, a mechanic from Santa Ana, wasn’t wild about the choices. He was happy, however, to vote for Rep. Loretta Sanchez for Senate, citing her lengthy experience in Congress and in politics.

Califoia had a rare tu in the political spotlight this year, as Sanders and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton bastormed the state.