What to know about Election Day in SLO County

Election Day has arrived in California.

In San Luis Obispo County, 76 polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can find a host of information about what’s on the June 7 primary ballot and where to find their polling place by visiting the county clerk-recorder’s website at www.slovote.com.

This year’s presidential primary ballot features a number of federal, state and local races, plus one statewide proposition and a special tax measure for voters in the Cayucos Fire Protection District.

Californians, of course, will be voting in the Democratic and Republican primaries, as well as for candidates vying in the U.S Senate primary.

San Luis Obispo County voters also will choose among primary candidates for the 24th District congressional seat, the 35th District Assembly and the 17th District state Senate. Three county supervisor seats also are on the ballot: District 1 and District 5 in the North County and District 3 in the South County.

“We expect a fairly high voter turnout,” county Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong said. “The presidential race has sparked interest. Also, the congressional seat has attracted national attention because it’s a coveted seat by both Democrats and Republicans. We think the voter participation will be up.”

The crowded congressional race to fill the seat being vacated by Democrat Lois Capps includes nine candidates and significant spending on advertising.

Here are some important things to keep in mind:

▪  Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day and must be received by the Clerk-Recorder’s Office by Friday to be counted.

▪  Gong recommends that voters mailing ballots on Election Day take their ballots to the post office counter and request a “circle date stamp” so the postmark can be affixed. “Sometimes, the machine stamps don’t show up as well, and it isn’t the easiest to read if it’s June 7,” he said.

▪  Vote-by-mail ballots also can be taken on Election Day to any polling place in the county or to the county Clerk-Recorder’s Office in San Luis Obispo or Atascadero. However, they must be turned in no later than 8 p.m.

▪  The county Clerk-Recorder’s Office has locations at: 1055 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo and 6555 Capistrano Ave. in Atascadero (the second floor of the Atascadero Library).

▪  A drive-by drop-off location for ballots is available at the Monterey Street side of the San Luis Obispo office from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

▪  Any voter who has misplaced their mail-in ballot can go to any polling place and will be given a provisional ballot.

A record 107,602 mail-in ballots were sent out to San Luis Obispo County voters for the primary, representing 69 percent of the county’s 155,804 registered voters. As of Monday, nearly 50,000 of those mail-in ballots had been returned, Gong said.

“We’re expecting to get slammed with mail-ins (Tuesday) and the following days,” Gong said. “And a lot of the mail-ins will get turned in at the polls. We’re estimating that about 20,000 will be submitted at the polls.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "What to know about Election Day in SLO County."