More than 117,000 SLO County ballots are in so far — but the youth vote is still lagging
Election Day is upon us, and the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder]s Office has its hands full collecting and sorting ballots ahead of the historic election.
Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong told The Tribune on Monday his office has received more than 117,000 ballots out of 182,709 sent out — a 64% voter turnout rate so far.
For reference, the highest San Luis Obispo County turnout during a presidential election was 83% of voters in 2008, according to Gong.
Gong has previously said given the ballot return frenzy, the county is on track for a record-breaking voter turnout this year.
What it’s not seeing yet, however, is a surge in younger voters.
Democrats, older residents lead in ballot returns
Despite predictions of a wave of younger voters, and promising statistics regarding increases in registration by that demographic, so far the under-35 crowd in San Luis Obispo County has been much slower to return their ballots than their older counterparts.
As of Sunday, roughly 43% of registered voters between the ages of 18 and 34 had returned their ballots, according to numbers from Political Data Inc. That was just under 18,000 people.
Though that’s a promising increase from October return rates, it still lags behind the turnout rate for other age groups.
For example, more than 81% of voters age 65 and older have returned their ballots as of Sunday, and 64% ages 50 to 64 have voted.
This means roughly 40% of the total votes returned were from residents aged 65 and older, 27% are from those aged 50 to 64, 17% from the 35- to 49-year-old demographic and only 16% from the 18-to-34 crowd.
It is not uncommon for young residents to vote at a lower rate than older age groups, Gong said.
Meanwhile, Democrats are substantially ahead of Republicans in ballot returns.
According to the Political Data numbers, roughly 71% of Democrats — 48,679 residents — had returned their ballots as of Sunday.
That is significantly larger than the 37,857 registered Republicans who have also done so, representing only about 59% of GOP voters.
About 43% of the ballots received so far are from Democrats, 34% from Republicans and 23% from other parties.
Voter Service Centers running smoothly
Gong said about 1,419 voters used the county’s new Voter Service Centers, which opened over the weekend.
Because of coronavirus concerns, traditional polling places were eliminated throughout California this election, and instead replaced with fewer Voter Service Centers.
These centers act as a one-stop shop for all same-day election needs, including some limited in-person voting if you do not want to use your VBM ballot.
You can also conditionally register to vote and receive a special ballot at one of these locations if you missed the deadline to register.
The centers will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A list of the Voter Service Centers is available on the county clerk-recorder’s website.
Gong said the centers operated “very smoothly” over the weekend with no major issues.
“We have a lot of technology at the voter service locations, more so than ever before,” Gong said. “Everything really took off without any problems throughout those days. We feel very confident that that all is up and working very well.”
Check out our Voter Guide
Still deciding how to vote? In The Tribune’s Voter Guide, we’ve compiled information about the candidates as well as their responses on a number of key issues. You can review candidates for your local city council, community service district or school board, State Senate and Assembly, and Congress.
Find The Tribune Voter Guide at sanluisobispo.com/voter-guide.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
%20Cropped.jpg)