More SLO County Democrats have voted than Republicans so far. Here’s a look at turnout
On the eve of Election Day, only 30% of San Luis Obispo County voters had returned their ballots so far, according to county data.
Out of 182,185 registered voters, a total of 54,745 had returned their ballots as of Monday, SLO County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano told The Tribune.
That is a lower participation rate than Cano expected, she said.
Normally, voter participation reaches 60% to 70% when there’s a general election during a year without a presidential race, Cano said. She expected to see at least 90,000 ballots mailed in before Election Day, she said.
Luckily, voters have many options for returning their ballots on Election Day, from voting in person at the polls to submitting their ballot by mail.
Here’s a look at voter participation by party so far.
More Democrats voted by mail than Republicans
San Luis Obispo County leans to the left, with 6,593 more registered Democrats than Republicans, according to county data.
“For me, of course, it doesn’t matter which party does what,” Cano said. “I just want people to vote.”
As of Monday, more Democrats had returned their ballots by mail than Republicans. About 34.8% of the county’s 72,233 Democrats had submitted their ballots, and 28.9% of 64,236 registered Republicans and turned in theirs.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering the SLO County Republican Party told its base to “consider in-person voting as your preferred choice,” its website said.
The national Republican Party has also encouraged voting in person, according to AP News.
How is participation looking in District 2?
District 2 is the battleground for the only Board of Supervisors race on the ballot, where incumbent Bruce Gibson and retired orthopedic surgeon Bruce Jones are competing for the seat.
This race will determine which party controls the Board of Supervisors. That’s because the liberal-leaning candidates took two of the seats up for election in June, and two conservatives already sit on the board.
District 2 is home to more conservative voters, with 14,586 registered Republicans and 13,162 registered Democrats.
About 30% of District 2 voters had returned their ballots as of Monday, matching the county’s overall turnout rate.
So far, 28.3% of registered Republicans have returned their ballots and 38.7% registered Democrats have submitted theirs.
What about the other districts?
The remaining four districts also mirror the countywide trend, with voter participation hovering around 30% in each area.
District 4 has the most voter participation so far with a 30.9% ballot return rate. A conservative-leaning district, the area is home to 16,002 registered Republicans and 14,394 registered Democrats. So far, 37% of registered Democrats have returned their ballots in District 4, while 30.6% of registered Republicans returned their ballots.
Jimmy Paulding defeated incumbent Lynn Compton for the District 4 Board of Supervisors seat in the June primary.
District 1 has the lowest voter turnout with 25% of ballots returned so far.
About 30.4% of District 5 voters have returned their ballots. There, 30.7% of 11,237 registered Republicans returned their ballots by mail, and 35.3% of 18,155 registered Democrats returned their ballots.
In District 3, about 28% of registered voters have returned their ballots. This heavily Democratic district has 15,552 registered Democrats to only 6,537 registered Republicans. About 31.8% of registered Democrats have returned their ballots, while 30.9% of registered Republicans have returned theirs.
During the June primary, Dawn Ortiz-Legg won a partial term to represent District 3 on the Board of Supervisors.
