Haven’t voted yet? Here’s where to submit your ballot in SLO County
Election Day is fast approaching, and only about 19% of voters in San Luis Obispo County had returned their mail-in ballots as of Tuesday, according to the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office spokesperson Erin Clausen.
Luckily, you can still return your mail-in ballot at the SLO County Clerk-Recorder’s Offices in downtown San Luis Obispo or Atascadero, or at one of the county’s drop boxes on or before Election Day — which is March 5.
You can also vote at your polling place on Election Day.
Voters will have the chance to choose a representative for District 5 on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors and judges for San Luis Obispo Superior Court, along with picking candidates to progress to the November general election for Congress, president and the California State Assembly and State Senate.
Here’s a look at everything you need to know to vote in the primary.
From housing to water: Here’s where SLO County supervisor candidates stand on the issues
Is it too late to register to vote?
The deadline to register to vote was Feb. 20 for the March primary — but to all the procrastinators out there, you’ll still have the chance to cast a ballot.
People are still able to sign up for conditional voter registration, also known as same-day voter registration, through Election Day.
You can complete conditional voter registration at the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office or a polling place, where you’ll fill out forms and then be allowed to vote a provisional ballot.
How and where to vote
Voters can return their mail-in ballots by mail, at an official ballot drop box, at the county’s election offices in San Luis Obispo and Atascadero or at a polling place on Election Day, according to the release.
You can find a list of official drop boxes on the county’s website at bit.ly/4aU6hGg.
The North County Elections Office at 6565 Capistrano Ave. in Atascadero is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will stay open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
The San Luis Obispo Elections Office at 1055 Monterey St. is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will also remain open until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Both Elections Offices will open for early voting on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted.
Finally, on Election Day, you can drop off your mail-in ballot or vote with a provisional ballot at your polling place. Your polling place is listed on your mail-in ballot.
Be sure to complete your ballot with a pencil or a pen with blue or black ink and sign the back of your mail-in ballot envelope before submitting it.
Ballots submitted before Election Day will be counted before election night, and then included in the election night tally. Ballots received by the office in the mail after Election Day are counted later, which can take weeks depending on volume.
19% of registered voters cast ballots so far
The Elections Office mailed a total of 180,790 ballots to registered voters in San Luis Obispo County for the March primary, according to Clausen.
As of Tuesday, 34,289 ballots had been returned — which is about 19% of the total sent out, Clausen said.
This is higher than the November 2022 general election, when about 15% of voters had returned their mail-in ballots a week before Election Day, Clausen said.
Voter turnout was higher a week before the last presidential primary in 2020, when about 26% of registered voters had returned their mail-in ballots a week before Election Day, Clausen said.
In 2020, however, the state had not yet mandated that every registered voter receive a mail-in ballot.
Back then, people had to request mail-in ballots to receive them, so “it’s not exactly apples to apples,” Clausen wrote in an email to The Tribune on Wednesday.
