SLO County voters cast ballots on recall Election Day. Here’s the latest turnout by party
“Look at those beautiful ballots!”
That was the reaction of deputy director clerk-recorder Helen Nolan on Tuesday, as a San Luis Obispo County elections worker pushed a cart of U.S. Postal Service trays filled with vote-by-mail ballots into an office to be processed.
Election Day was a busy one throughout the county on Tuesday, as voters cast their ballots on the question of whether to keep Gov. Gavin Newsom in office or remove him and replace him with another candidate.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all registered voters received vote-by-mail ballots, and many waited till Election Day to drop their envelopes off at the County Government Center in downtown San Luis Obispo and elsewhere.
Poll workers accepted ballots from voters walking or driving up to a drop box outside on Monterey Street. Inside the building, elections staff fielded voters’ questions at a walk-up counter and via phone at a call center.
Election Day is all about helping residents vote, Nolan said, but inside her office staff members also were busy processing mail-in ballots by checking envelopes and examining signatures.
SLO County voter turnout better than statewide numbers
As of Monday night, the Clerk-Recorder’s Office had received 91,000 of the 185,000 ballots it sent to registered voters — meaning 49% of people had already voted, Nolan said.
“That’s, I think, really amazing for just vote-by-mail,” she said.
Elections staff hasn’t processed all the ballots they’ve received yet, Nolan said.
So far, Democrats have cast about 39,000 of the processed ballots, registered Republicans have cast 29,000 and those registered as No Party Preference have cast 15,000, she said.
Nolan noted voters’ registration does not necessarily reflect how they voted, just their party affiliation. The Clerk-Recorder’s Office will not begin releasing election results until after the polls close at 8 p.m.
Statewide, about 9.1 million of 22.2 million registered voters had cast their ballots as of Monday — meaning about 41% had already turned out, according to the 2021 Recall Ballots Returned Tracker from Political Data Inc.
About 51% of votes came from Democrats, 26% came from Republicans and 15% came from Independents or other voters.
Recall election voter experiences
Voters could also cast ballots in person on Election Day at their neighborhood polling places, although Nolan anticipated most people would be returning mail-in ballots.
About 19,900 voters cast ballots in person at precinct polling places during the March 2020 primary election, she said. Voter turnout was higher during the November 2020 election, but just 7,000 people cast ballots in person.
Poll workers at LifePoint Church in Arroyo Grande said they felt turnout was “light” today, compared with previous elections they had worked. The workers said they’d seen only about 18 people come in to vote in person, though they did have a number of people stopping by to drop off ballots.
Some voters who responded to a Tribune survey on their recall election experience said they voted to keep Newsom in office because they’re concerned about how replacement candidates would lead California.
Alex Clupper of San Luis Obispo said he voted by mail, and that it was “not so much a pro-Newsom vote as it was an anti-recall vote.”
Erin White of Atascadero pointed to the pandemic as a big motivator for her vote.
“I’m scared that if a Republican is elected, they will repeal the COVID safety measures currently in place and my kids won’t be safe at school,” she said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 2:32 PM.
