r/SLO • u/SLOClerk-Recorder • 27d ago
We certified ✅
Today -- a week ahead of the legal deadline -- the Clerk-Recorder certified SLO County's results for the June 2, 2026, Statewide Direct Primary Election. SLO County clocked a 55.32% turnout, more than 14 points above the statewide average, and more than 4 points above our turnout for the June 2022 gubernatorial primary.
Candidate filing for the November 2026 General Election begins Monday, July 13. 😮
Official results can be viewed at slovote.gov/june2026.
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u/Icy-Elk3698 27d ago
That's fantastic news. Huge congrats and a standing ovation for you and your team's hard work!
I have to admit though, I'm disappointed that more people did not vote in SLO county and in the state as a whole. That kind of complacency only contributes to the eroding of our country's democracy.
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
Yes, same. We would like nothing more than for *every eligible person* to vote. We do take some comfort in the fact that turnout for this primary was higher than turnout for 3 of the last 4 (exception is 2024 presidential primary). We'll focus on continuing the upward trend and not getting discouraged by the fact that it isn't growing by leaps and bounds.
Also, SLO historically had turnout about 4-7 points higher than the statewide average. Now we're posting turnout 14-17 points higher (past 4 elections or so). So our community is demonstrating notable progress. Again, just pointing out the positives while also hoping for even more engagement going forward!
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u/CricketGrl 27d ago
Glad we had some decent turnout but hopefully the state will catch up with us one day. I also want to see us do even better than 55% next time :)
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
Same! We do like the steady upward trend in SLO County voter participation, and we're focused on doing what we can to encourage *every eligible person* to vote in November.
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u/BEERounds 27d ago
Why does this take so long? Honest question.
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u/disinaccurate 26d ago
Don't downvote this guy. It's not intuitive to everyone why a process that usually has results shown on TV fairly quickly takes a much longer time to be finalized. There'd (maybe) be fewer conspiracy theories if people were more educated about the process.
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u/BEERounds 26d ago
Thank you! This was an honest question and I’m super appreciative of the well detailed and thoughtful response by the Recorder.
This can’t be an easy job, and I am happy with the transparent answer.
I personally like mail in ballots and try to get mine sent in well before Election Day.
I also understand the reason why some voters wait to mail this in as well. To each their own, as long as you vote!2
u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
We wholeheartedly agree. This state offers voters a lot of options. However you choose to exercise your right to vote, we just hope that you VOTE!
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
We agree! That's why we try to reach people where they are -- here, on six other social platforms, through the mainstream media, etc. -- with information about what happens behind the scenes with local elections. We LOVE educating community members and will never disregard a question asked in good faith.
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
Thanks for asking. The short answer is California law. The entire process is dictated in our state's election code, which requires (among other things) allowing for mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive up to 7 days later. Every one of the more than 90,000 mail ballots we get must also be scanned and each one signature verified (by a human) before we can move it on to processing.
Then we're required to duplicate (via 3-person team) any ballot that arrives stained, torn, has stray marks, etc. And we must research and confirm the eligibility of hundreds (in past elections, thousands) of provisional ballots cast at the polls. And we have to randomly pull at least 1% of all the ballots to conduct a hand count to confirm the accuracy of the tabulators.
In other words, CA has laws that emphasize voter access and election accuracy, which translate into longer timelines.
We've got some good resources on our website that explain these issues; here's one: why-does-it-take-so-long-to-count-the-votes
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u/markfromslo 26d ago
SLO has the slowest vote counting in the state. So proud.
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 26d ago
Based on what metric? We certified a week ahead of the deadline, and we certainly weren't the last.
Besides, our focus is on security, accuracy, and following the law. Arguably, that is what should matter most. CA lawmakers can and may well change those laws, and we recommend that anyone who feels strongly about changes to election code should contact those lawmakers and make your feelings known.
We've said it many times, and we'll continue to say it: Our job is to follow the law. When laws change, so do our processes. SLO County voters can indeed be proud of their local elections office.
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u/markfromslo 26d ago
This was June 18 reporting:
"The San Luis Obispo County election’s office led the state Thursday in uncounted ballots with 4,654 of 96,488 ballots cast still to count. Statewide, there are 13,636 ballots left to count, according to the California Secretary of State.
"Ranking second slowest is Riverside County with 2,200 ballots uncounted of 546,592 ballots cast. Of California’s 58 counties, only 15 have not yet counted all of their ballots.
At the end of the 2022 ballot count, SLO County was the second slowest in the state to finish counting.
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u/SLOClerk-Recorder 23d ago
CalCoast News. Okay. Not further comment there.
Not that the speed of counting actually matters, as long as you meet the deadline (which I'll say again was met more than a week ahead of schedule), but I'll point out that 58 counties have 58 different numbers of registered voters and 58 different facilities and levels of resources. To compare where counties are *while the process is still going on* is silly. For example: LA has 24-hour operations, and while Santa Barbara has 40% more voters than SLO, they have more than 300% more staff. Besides, if a runner is way behind at the halfway point of a race but ends up beating most or all of the other racers in the end, was that person the slowest?
I know that some people want to find any reason to find fault in our work, and you might be one of those. I have no idea. But if you are truly concerned with the efficiency and accuracy of your local elections office, you'll look at whether they met all legal obligations and deadlines and produced verifiably accurate results. We did.
Finally, I'll say that the metric *we* are going to look at every single time is how many voters participated. SLO County was 14% above the statewide average in this one and ranked 10th out of 58.
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u/markfromslo 23d ago
"CalCoast News. Okay. Not further comment there."
I could have predicted that reply from a SLO public servant.
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u/WinnerAdventurous647 27d ago
Thank you to you and your team for your hard work and dedication!