SLO County supervisor race remains undecided. Here’s how ballots will be counted

Election Day has come and gone — and now the San Luis Obispo County Elections Office is busy preparing more ballots to be counted.

By the end of Election Night, the Clerk-Recorder’s Office had counted a total of 49,299 ballots, bringing voter participation to almost 28%, according to the latest ballot count report.

That tally included mail-in ballots returned before Tuesday and ballots cast at the polls.

Still, there are already more than 17,000 ballots left to count, including provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Election Day — which are still trickling into the Elections Office.

The District 5 supervisor race, where Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno holds a 670-vote lead over Atascadero Mayor Pro Temp Susan Funk, is the only major undecided local contest.

The office planned to resume counting on Friday or Monday and release the next unofficial vote tally then, according to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano.

“Everything is going just as planned,” Cano said. “I think that we’ve been on top of everything and working really hard with very few incidences.”

Hiccups at the polls

San Luis Obispo County faced a few “hiccups” at the polls on Tuesday, Cano said.

The Elections Office consolidated three precincts with others nearby when a few precinct inspectors said they couldn’t work on Election Day, according to Cano.

The office closed polling places at the SLO Veterans Memorial Building, Monarch Grove Elementary School in Los Osos and the Oceano Community Center, then directed voters in those precincts to nearby polling places.

“We made it all work and it happened perfectly,” Cano said.

Meanwhile, a handful of voters protested the vote-by-mail process at the polls, Cano told The Tribune.

Some voters ripped up their ballots and tossed the shreds on the table in front of a poll worker, while another voter tried to light their ballot on fire, Cano said.

Cano told The Tribune the display was “disappointing.”

“Everybody has their right to their opinion, but you don’t need to take it out on somebody that’s doing their civic duty at the polling place,” Cano said. “They’re not there to have to be treated so disrespectfully.”

What’s next?

When the polls closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Elections Office staff counted poll ballots until about 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, staff balanced the voting rosters and prepared mail-in ballots to be counted, Cano said.

After the next vote count, Cano plans to count ballots about twice a week in order to certify the election within 30 days, she said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Elections Office still needed to count about 1,200 provisional ballots and about 16,400 mail-in ballots returned to drop-boxes or the polls on Election Day, Cano said.

Cano also expects to receive thousands more mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day, she said.

“We still have a lot more to do,” Cano said.

Moreno leads SLO County supervisor race

Meanwhile, vote watchers are waiting for new numbers in the District 5 supervisor race.

As of Wednesday at 12:21 a.m., Moreno had 4,586 votes, or almost 54%, while Funk had 3,916 votes, or about 46%, the report said.

“I am deeply grateful to everyone who voted for me, supported my candidacy and actively participated in our campaign,” Moreno said in a statement to The Tribune. “If current trends persist, I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to serve our entire county on the Board of Supervisors starting in January. I am dedicated to making a meaningful, positive impact on our community.”

Meanwhile, Funk said she remains hopeful and looks forward to the next ballot count update.

“I’m feeling really proud of my team and volunteers, and I’m grateful for all the support that we’ve had from the volunteers and from the voters,” she said.

She said she’s proud of her “grassroots campaign,” fueled by local support.

“Building relationships with voters builds our democracy — that’s the work of campaigns,” Funk said. “Connecting with people and letting them know that their voice matters.”