SLO County voter requests recount in District 4 Board of Supervisors election
A SLO County voter requested a manual recount of the District 4 Board of Supervisors election on Tuesday, according to a news release from County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano.
Paso Robles resident Darcia Stebbens said she requested the recount on behalf of incumbent Lynn Compton, but not necessarily at her request, the news release said.
Arroyo Grande City Councilmember Jimmy Paulding defeated Compton for the District 4 seat by 639 votes, according to the previous election tally.
How does a recount work?
The recount will start within seven days of the request, and will continue for at least six hours a day until completed, the release said.
The Clerk-Recorder’s Office hasn’t yet decided specifically when the recount will begin, as they received the request Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m. and still must discuss the date, location and cost of the recount, Cano said.
Recounts occur in teams of four people — one person reads the ballot and calls out the vote, two others tally the vote, and a fourth person checks the call and the tally for accuracy, Cano said. Multiple teams will carry out the recount, she said.
An election official and four voters of their choice will also supervise the recount, Cano said.
Cano said her office may conduct the recount outside of the Clerk-Recorder’s Office, as their current counting space is small and would “take an extreme amount of time” to do the count, she said. Instead, they may hold the recount in a large conference room in the County Government building, she said.
“That would mean I don’t have to transport ballots out of this building,” Cano said. “I don’t want to take ballots out of this building if I don’t have to.”
As the one who requested the recount, Stebbens must pay the County for the cost of the recount at the start of each counting day, Cano said.
If the certified ballot count is accurate, Stebbens will forfeit the funds. If the recount reveals that there were enough miscounted votes to overturn the election, the County will return a portion of the funds to Stebbens, the news release said. The County will also return any money not used for the recount to Stebbens, according to the news release.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 9:33 PM.
