Recount requested in SLO County supervisor race. Here’s what happens next
San Luis Obispo County resident Darcia Stebbens has requested a recount in the District 2 Board of Supervisors race, according to SLO County Clerk-Recorder Division Supervisor Tami Bisantz.
Stebbens made the request on behalf of Dr. Bruce Jones, who lost to incumbent Supervisor Bruce Gibson by 13 votes, according to the final certified election results. Gibson finished with 11,722 votes, or 50.03%, to 11,709 votes, or 49.97%, for Jones.
Stebbens is a familiar name in SLO County’s recount process.
In June, she was the one who filed for a recount in the District 4 supervisor race, which showed that the original count was 100% accurate. The District 4 recount cost a total of $53,130.73.
Overall, Stebbens said she’s concerned with the integrity of the election process.
“I don’t believe that it’s being counted accurately. I don’t believe that it’s one voter, one vote, one time,” Stebbens said. “I want to make our elections process better.”
What will the recount look like?
Stebbens requested a “manual/visual inspection” of the ballots and relevant material, followed by a manual recount of the ballots, the request said.
Relevant material includes items such as unvoted ballots, adjudicated ballots and mail-in ballots returned without an envelope, the request said.
Stebbens also asked for “documentation as to the ‘spreadsheet error’ where 327 additional provisional ballots were added to the unprocessed ballot estimate” following the Nov. 23 count, the request said. Documentation should include copies of the spreadsheet before and after the error was corrected, along with a chain of custody explanation for the “found ballots,” the request said.
The SLO County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit conducted an inquiry into those ballots. They discovered that the addition of more than 327 ballots in the Nov. 23 count was caused by a spreadsheet error, not misconduct, a news release from the District Attorney’s Office said.
Stebbens said she was concerned with the District Attorney’s inquiry because their report conflicted with information election staff shared with her.
“I’m concerned that the explanation that was provided to the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit was different than the explanation that was given to me and two other observers,” Stebbens said. Instead, she said election staff told Stebbens that the extra ballots were found in a box in one of the election offices.
Stebbens’ request comes days after Jones campaign spokesperson Erik Gorham announced on the Dave Congalton radio show that the campaign planned to file for a recount.
Gorham said the campaign wanted to examine at least two types of ballots, including mail-in ballots submitted without an envelope and ballots election staff had to interpret.
According to Gorham, some poll workers advised voters to return their mail-in ballots without an envelope, which would disqualify the ballots. Mail-in ballots must be sealed in a signed envelope in order to be counted, while precinct ballots are returned without an envelope.
County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano told The Tribune that poll workers did what their training instructed: They allowed voters to surrender their mail-in ballot for a precinct ballot, accepted their mail-in ballot sealed into an envelope, or offered envelopes to voters who didn’t have one for their mail-in ballot.
In District 2, two people returned their mail-in ballots without envelopes, Cano told The Tribune. This may not be the fault of poll workers, though, as those ballots could have been submitted at either the polls or a drop box.
Stebbens echoed Gorham’s concerns about mail-in ballots returned without envelopes. She also alleged that some poll workers discouraged voters from trading their mail-in ballot for a precinct ballot and instead told voters that their mail-in ballots would be counted on election night. This is false, as mail-in ballots returned at the polls are counted later in the week.
Stebbens also wants to examine ballots that were disqualified, and “check the accuracy of those disqualifications,” she said.
In District 2, 223 ballots weren’t counted for a variety of reasons. Aside from the two mail-in ballots that didn’t have envelopes, here’s how the others break down, according to Cano:
2 ballots were disqualified because a first-time voter didn’t provide identification
1 envelope contained multiple ballots
11 mail-in ballots didn’t have signatures on their envelopes
93 mail-in ballots had signatures that didn’t match county records
112 mail-in ballots were postmarked after Election Day or arrived more than seven days after the election
2 provisional ballots were disqualified because the voter had already submitted a mail-in ballot
The recount must begin within seven days of the request, and the person who filed for the recount must cover its cost — so Stebbens will have to foot the bill, according to state law. Stebbens said the Jones campaign will reimburse her for the cost of the recount.
Gorham said on the radio that he expects a District 2 recount to cost $30,000 to $40,000.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to declare the election results, with Debbie Arnold dissenting.
County Counsel Rita Neal said the procedure “is really more of a formality” to publicly recognize the results, and that the board is required by state law to declare the election results after the County Clerk-Recorder certifies them.
“This is really a ministerial procedure on behalf of this board,” Neal said.
This story has been updated to include the Board of Supervisors’ action on Tuesday.
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 6:05 PM.
