SLO County is now required to count ballots much faster. Here’s why
San Luis Obispo County is having to count ballots at a faster pace than usual due to a new election law.
Assembly Bill 5, enacted Jan. 1, now requires county election offices to count most ballots by the 13th day after the election. Previously, elections officials had to work at least six hours a day on the canvass during the work week and certify election results within 30 of the election.
Following the June 2 primary election, the bulk of tabulation must be completed by end of day Monday, June 15, under the new law.
However, counties still have 30 days — or until July 2 —to certify election results.
SLO County clerk-recorder Elaina Cano said there’s been increased pressure on California over the length of time it takes to count mail-in ballots and complete the canvass. In the past, the weeks-long waiting period has led to false claims of voter fraud in California.
If local election officials are unable to meet the new deadline, they can file a notice and reason for the needed extension to the Secretary of State’s Office, according to CalMatter’s Digital Democracy website.
However, Cano said SLO County’s elections office will be able to meet the requirements of the new law and finish the vote count by Monday afternoon.
“I am incredibly proud of our elections team and the amount of work that went into meeting this new requirement while still maintaining the accuracy, transparency and security standards required in California elections,” Cano told The Tribune.
Cano said the elections office was able to speed up the vote count this year by having staff members work “extensive” overtime, as well as making upgrades to their tabulation system and implementing a new envelope scanner for mail-in ballots.
“These improvements allowed us to streamline several processes, particularly around ballot intake and signature verification, while still ensuring that every ballot went through the proper review procedures required by law,” she said in an email.
The elections office was also forced to delay some post-election processes to finish ballot-counting in time for the June 15 deadline, such as the 1% manual tally that typically happens during the week of the election, according to Cano. This year, that tally begins Tuesday.
The new law does not require every single ballot to be counted by Monday. Provisional ballots, damaged ballots that need to be duplicated, and ballots where signatures need to be cured because a voter’s signature does not match or there’s no signature on the return envelope can continue to be processed past the deadline.
As of Monday morning, Cano said there are still about 5,000 ballots that fall under these categories, requiring additional review before they can be finalized and added to the total count.
