16% voter turnout -- quite low or is it?

If it's not a record, 88% to remove has got to be close. Turnout was only a tick above 16%, which is very low for almost any election. Any election, that is except apparently the Mayor of Miami-Dade. More people turned out for the recall than for Alvarez' victory in 2008, where he received 65% (116K votes). This 2008 election was not held on Election Day, instead it was held in August, which explains the low turnout. In his original victory, which was held on Election Day in 2004, Alvarez got close to 400K votes.

The lack of any real partisan feel to the recall, and the fact that there was no candidate running to replace him (which would generally lead to Alvarez getting at least some votes from opponents) probably explains the super-lopsided nature of the vote.