With less than a week till election, SLO County voter turnout is ‘far less than normal’
Voter turnout in the upcoming primary election is shaping up to be much lower than expected.
According to San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, as of Wednesday, the county had received only about 25,500 ballots for the June 7 election.
Meanwhile, as of close of day Monday, the total number of people registered to vote in the county was 181,730.
That means that with less than a week to go before the election, only about one-seventh of the total voting population in San Luis Obispo County — or 14% — has returned their ballots.
“Unfortunately, the turnout is far less than normal primaries,” Cano told The Tribune in an email.
Voter turnout in primaries is historically much lower than during a general election, and even more so in a mid-term election where a president is not being decided.
For example, San Luis Obispo County voter turnout in the 2020 primary election was 63% — itself the best turnout for a primary since 2008 — and turnout during the general election later that year was a record-breaking 88.5%.
In the last non-presidential election primary in 2018, voter turnout in San Luis Obispo County was at about 24% heading into Election Day, according to previous Tribune reports. By the end of the day, voter turnout was an estimated 52.5%.
Since then, however, some significant changes have been implemented across the state, including sending vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters, rather than just those who specifically request one.
In the 2018 primary election, it was still the norm for many voters to vote in person, so the large jump in turnout on Election Day was expected. Now, however, the norm is for all voters to receive a mail-in ballot that they can return at any point up to close of day on Election Day.
In recent elections, this has meant more voters turning in their ballots earlier, and the county Elections Office expected this current primary to follow suit.
Instead, voting seems to be lagging behind, and SLO County should not expect a record-breaking turnout, according to Cano.
“I’m not sure why there is low turnout right now, but it is that way for most of the state,” she said. “We normally have a large return of vote-by-mail ballots, so I can’t say that 60% or more voters will be going to the polls on Election Day.”
Cano said she has faith, however, that more ballots will be turned in in the coming days.
“This is such an important election for our state and local leaders,” she said. “However, I have faith in our county voters that they will, indeed, turn out and vote. It’s just not at the normal rate we usually see.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 12:34 PM.
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