Local Republican Party is trying to suppress the vote in SLO County. Here’s how

You thought voting rights were under siege only in places like Georgia, Florida and Texas?

Wrong. There’s a campaign underway to make voting more difficult right here in San Luis Obispo County.

The local Republican Party is casting doubt on the integrity of the local election, and it’s petitioning for changes in the way future balloting is conducted.

Among the requests:

• Return to in-person voting.
• Allow mail-in voting for “physical hardship” only.
• Do away with voting centers and restore neighborhood polling places.
• Allow ballots to be cast on one day only — no early voting except in hardship situations.
• Stop the use of the so-called “problematic” Dominion Voting Systems machines. (Among other accusations, the GOP claims the machines are under financial control of the Chinese Communist Party.)

In other words, the party wants to revert to the inconvenient, old-school system of voting, eliminating accommodations that boost turnout and are favored by the vast majority of county voters, such as permanent and widespread vote-by-mail.

And that’s not all: The local GOP also wants another audit of 2020 election results completed within six months — something the county Elections Office doesn’t even have the authority to do.

“This is not a matter of “No,” but rather, “I can’t,” County Clerk/Recorder Tommy Gong responded in a letter. “I simply do not have the legal authority to allow an audit outside of the time frames established by law related to an election.”

This comes as San Luis Obispo County is on the verge of making major decisions about future elections — including whether to stick with the old polling-place model or adopt a hybrid that combines universal mail-in voting with regional voting centers where people can go to cast ballots or sort out any problems.

Certainly, every resident has the right to lobby for the voting system they prefer.

But we’re sick and tired of baseless efforts to discredit our election system by scaring voters with lies and cherry-picked data.

One example: Republicans claim “over 70% of voters (all parties) are concerned about election integrity.”

Yet survey after survey shows Democrats are highly confident that the election was “free and fair.”

Merely raising the issue of election integrity — with no evidence to suggest fraud — is specious and leading, raising the specter of a problem where none exists.

In fact, the only ones questioning the integrity of the process are those who can’t accept the results of the last election and now want to change the rules to favor their candidates go forward.

GOP runs an attack ad on the radio

The local GOP even has a radio ad that assaults the integrity of County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong.

“Election integrity is under attack in the U.S., including right here in San Luis Obispo County, but our elected Clerk/Recorder Tommy Gong is not concerned,” it says.

Not concerned?

Gong responded to the Republican Party’s requests by issuing a detailed, five-page response.

He conducted a Zoom meeting with local Republican leaders.

He’s scheduled to make a presentation on voting systems to the Board of Supervisors on May 4.

He also plans to set up a focus group to examine the vote center election held in 2020, and has invited Republican Party members to participate.

And he’s conducting an online survey to gather information about preferred methods of voting and confidence in the security of the local election process.

Does that sound like an elected official who is not concerned? Or is this simply more fearmongering from the one major party in America that needs fewer people to vote in order to ensure it has any chance at winning?

Why are Republicans questioning the election now?

Another thing: Why raise these accusations now, five months after the election?

Local Republican leaders didn’t seem concerned about the integrity of elections in San Luis Obispo County before.

And SLO County Republican Party Chairman Randall Jordan told us this week that he doesn’t “necessarily” believe local election results were compromised.

“We are asking for the audit and changes in procedure to ensure future voter confidence and fairness in upcoming elections,” he said via email.

Then why stoke fear? Why encourage changes that would discourage participation? What’s really going on here?

It’s as simple as this: The Republican Party in San Luis Obispo County is questioning the integrity of our elections — and attacking the reputation of a local elected official in the process — as part of a larger GOP effort to undermine American voting rights.

It’s the same grotesque and transparent campaign that’s going on in places like Georgia, Florida and Texas.

It has no place in a democracy that strives to increase participation, and if you think it can’t lead to substantial suppression of our local vote, think again.

The conservative majority on the county Board of Supervisors easily could elect to turn back the clock by limiting vote-by-mail and other innovations that have made voting more convenient and have increased turnout.

It could easily jump on the party bandwagon and undermine our democratic processes.

So pay attention and stand against this behavior.

Take the county’s voter satisfaction survey by logging on to www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Clerk-Recorder.aspx

And be sure to tune in on May 4 when County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong makes his presentation to the Board of Supervisors.

Elections in San Luis Obispo County are free and fair, and they need to stay that way — which means we all must do everything we can to protect them from cynical players who would manipulate them under false pretenses.

This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 5:30 AM.