Tribune Voter Guide: Here’s everything you need to know to cast your ballot in SLO County

Heads up, San Luis Obispo County voters: Mail-in ballots have been sent out, and it’s time to decide who you’re voting for.

From multiple candidates being accused of election fraud to a push to recall a city council member and local church groups getting in on the action, the road to the November election has already made for some interesting twists and turns.

Now, Nov. 5 is fast approaching, and we’re here to provide you with the information you need to make your decisions and cast your ballot.

The Tribune has compiled this Voter Guide to assemble all of our election coverage in one place, including where candidates stand on key issues and who we have endorsed in local races.

Have questions you’d like answered ahead of the election? Send them to reporter Kaytlyn Leslie at kleslie@thetribunenews.com.

How to register to vote, deadlines and more

Let’s get the basics out of the way first: Are you registered to vote?

You can check your registration status at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov. There you can also check your registration address, your party and language preferences and the status of your vote-by-mail ballot.

If you aren’t registered, you can do so at registertovote.ca.gov. To register online you will need your California driver license or ID card number, the last four digits of your Social Security number and your date of birth.

The last day to register to vote in the election is Oct. 21, although unregistered California residents can still vote using a same-day conditional ballot that can be obtained in-person at either the San Luis Obispo or Atascadero Elections Office.

The county Clerk-Recorder’s Office then confirms voter eligibility before counting those conditional ballots.

Where to drop off your ballot

Once you’ve filled out your ballot, you can either mail it back using the included return envelope or you can turn it in in person at any of the county’s drop-off locations.

In the North County those are:

• Atascadero Library, 6555 Capistrano Ave.
• San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, 6565 Capistrano Ave., Atascadero
• Paso Robles City Library, 1000 Spring St.
• San Miguel Community Services District, 1765 Bonita Place
• Santa Margarita Library, 9630 Murphy Ave.
• Shandon Library, 195 North Second St.
• Templeton Community Services District, 420 Crocker St.

In the South County those are:

• Arroyo Grande Library, 800 West Branch St.
• Arroyo Grande City Hall, 300 East Branch St.
• Grover Beach City Hall, 154 South Eighth St.
• Nipomo Library, 918 West Tefft St.
• Oceano Library, 1511 19th St.
• Pismo Beach City Hall, 760 Mattie Road

On the North Coast those are:

• Cambria Library, 1043 Main St.

• Cayucos Library, 310 B St.

• Los Osos Library, 2075 Palisades

• Morro Bay Library, 625 Harbor St.

In San Luis Obispo those are:

• Cal Poly, University Union, Second Floor, 1 Grand Ave.
  
  
• Department of Social Services, 3433 South Higuera St.
  
  
• San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, 1055 Monterey St.

The drop-off locations opened Oct. 7. For a full list of hours for each of the drop-off locations, visit the county’s elections website.

Vote-by-mail ballots can also be dropped off in person on Election Day at any polling place location between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

For a full list of the county’s polling places, visit the county’s elections website.

If you choose to mail your ballot, it must be postmarked on or before Nov. 5 in order to be counted.

Who is running for election in SLO County?

First things first: Do you know who is running in your city or local community services district?

You can find a list of candidates running for office in your community here:

• San Luis Obispo
• South County
• North Coast
• North County

Many races have candidates who are running unchallenged.

In Morro Bay, for example, the candidate for mayor and the two candidates for City Council are running unopposed. The same thing happened with the Cambria Community Services District board.

In Los Osos, the CSD chose to take applications for new members and not hold an election after incumbents chose not to run for re-election. Read more here on why.

Where do candidates stand on the issues?

To compile our Voter Guide, The Tribune sent out surveys to all candidates running for local office asking for their stances on a range of issues important to their communities.

These included races for city council, mayor, school district and even the Port San Luis Obispo Harbor District board, as well as state offices.

Here are their responses.

San Luis Obispo

• From housing to downtown, here’s how candidates for SLO City Council and mayor compare

• Where San Luis Coastal Unified School District candidate stands on the issues

North County

• Where do Atascadero City Council candidates stand on homelessness, sales tax?

• Where do Atascadero Unified School District candidates stand on the issues?

• Where do Paso Robles City Council members stand on sales tax, paid parking?

• How do the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District candidates compare?

• How do the candidates for Templeton Unified School District compare?

South County

• How do Arroyo Grande candidates for mayor, City Council compare on important issues?

• Where do Grover Beach candidates for mayor, City Council stand on housing, infrastructure?

• Where do Pismo Beach City Council candidates stand on water, tourism and infrastructure?

• Should Avila Beach have an offshore wind port? What harbor commission candidates think

• Where do the Lucia Mar Unified School District candidates stand on the issues?

State and national offices

• Where do SLO County candidates for Congress stand on climate change, immigration and infrastructure?

• Where do State Assembly candidates stand on the environment, jobs and rent control?

• Where do State Senate candidates stand on the environment, jobs and rent control?

3 SLO County school districts push bond measures

Voters within the Atascadero, Lucia Mar and Templeton school districts will be tasked with deciding whether to approve more than $305 million in school bond measures this November.

Here’s a look at what each of those bonds would fund and how they compare.

Candidates battle at forums

Meanwhile, several groups have sponsored candidate forums for specific races, offering those running the opportunity to further share their positions on local issues.

Here’s our coverage of those debates:

• Arroyo Grande mayor candidates trade barbs at election forum

• Atascadero school board candidates talk book bans and cellphone use at election forum

• Where do Grover Beach candidates stand on water rates, infrastructure and recall election?

• From homelessness to tourism: 4 takeaways from Paso Robles City Council candidate forum

• Pismo Beach City Council, mayor candidates face off at forum. Here’s what they said

• Paso Robles school board candidates discuss deficit, test scores at community forum

Who is The Tribune endorsing for office?

Each election, The Tribune Editorial Board chooses to endorse specific candidates for office.

Here are those endorsements so far — though more, including recommendations for local school boards, will be be published in the coming days so keep checking back.

San Luis Obispo

• Our endorsements for San Luis Obispo mayor and City Council | Opinion

• Incumbent Eve Hinton or Erica Baltodano for SLO school board? Here’s our endorsement | Opinion

North County

• 3 candidates want to join the Atascadero City Council. Here’s our endorsement | Opinion

• Who should lead Paso Robles? Here are our recommendations for City Council | Opinion

• 5 candidates are running for Atascadero school board; 3 stand out as the most qualified | Opinion

• In Paso Robles, 4 school board seats will be decided. Read our endorsements | Opinion

South County

• Arroyo Grande voters will elect a mayor and councilmember. Here’s our recommendation | Opinion

• Two candidates are running for Arroyo Grande City Council. Only one of them is talking | Opinion

• It’s a big election year in Grover Beach. Here are our endorsements | Opinion

• Should Grover Beach City Councilmember Dan Rushing be recalled? | Opinion

• Should Pismo Beach voters reelect all 3 incumbents? Here’s our recommendation | Opinion

• Should Lucia Mar voters ‘rebuild’ the school board, or reelect incumbents? | Opinion

Sales tax measures

• 4 SLO County cities have tax measures on the November ballot. Are they worth supporting? | Opinion

Tribune’s endorsement on Morro Bay’s Measure A-24

In Morro Bay, a controversial ballot initiative about the future of the Morro Bay Power Plant property and plans for a battery storage plant is dividing voters. Here’s our recommendation on Measure A-24.

Voter guide for state propositions

The Tribune has also compiled a voter guide with McClatchy California Editorial Board recommendations on the 10 statewide propositions on the November ballot.

Click here for a roundup of these recommendations.

This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 10:05 AM.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

805-781-7928 (voicemails only)

Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.