Local GOP has a record of winning elections — yet still distrusts SLO County’s voting office

It’s not unreasonable to conclude that half of all local Republicans believe GOP Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham’s reelection wasn’t legitimate — if we’re to believe recent survey results.

A non-scientific online poll conducted by the Elections Division of the San Luis Obispo County Clerk’s Office shows local Republicans are deeply distrustful of this county’s “election integrity,” despite their holding the state Assembly seat, a majority on the Board of Supervisors, the District Attorney’s Office, the County Assessor’s Office and a solid block of other county offices and city council and special district seats.

By contrast, Democrats — who haven’t won an Assembly race in forever and have been sentenced to minority status on the Board of Supervisors for a decade — appear to have no qualms about the “integrity” of SLO County elections.

Put another way, local Democrats lose some elections and accept the results. Local Republicans win some elections and challenge the very sovereignty of our entire voting system.

What is it about winning that local GOPers hate? They might seriously consider reality – maybe realize they’re punching themselves in the face. And stop.

The revealing survey results are contained in a report to county supervisors from County Clerk Tommy Gong, who’s scheduled Tuesday to present a forensic analysis of the November 2020 election and outline preparations for 2022.

Gong plans to discuss the immutable mechanics of running free, fair and accessible elections: voting by mail, adjudicating unclear ballots, hiring and training election workers, and whether to again open four-day regional voting centers.

Included in Gong’s analysis is a dispassionate and definitive refutation of claims by the local GQP and its national mind controllers that the local 2020 November election was ”stolen” by nefarious means, including “vote-flipping” by the makers of Dominion Voting Systems, whose equipment is used by SLO County.

”County election staff performed admirably,” Gong’s report says, “and what resulted was the largest election ever for the county with a record-breaking number of registered voters and voter participation ... .” Of the 184,050 registered voters (some 6,000 more than the March primary), a historically high 88 percent turned out. Of the 162,615 ballots cast, 94 percent (152,741) were vote-by-mail. Only 6 percent (9,874) were cast in person. “Voters overwhelmingly chose to vote by mail. ...,” Gong says.

Explicitly, vote-by-mail works: Democracy is enhanced. You’d think everybody would be stoked. You’d be wrong.

In yet another unscientific online survey, this one conducted by the SLO County GOP itself, some 93 percent of 1,025 respondents (90 percent of whom identify as Republican) supported requiring in-person voting at precinct polling sites — and requiring voter identification.

Moreover, 90 percent of GOP survey respondents would eliminate voting by mail unless a voter specifically asked for a mail ballot and had a medical reason to do so. Gong notes that 81 percent of all SLO County voters are registered as “permanent vote-by-mail” voters. Obviously, this includes Republicans.

The dystopian disconnect between what local Republicans claim to believe about “voting integrity” and what they do when voting is further illustrated in Gong’s survey results. As of April 22, some 5,500 county voters responded to Gong’s online survey, posted April 2.

Two key questions:

Q 1: “How confident are you that your votes in the November 2020 election were counted accurately by the County Elections Office?”

Average response: 8.72, on a 1-10 scale.

Q 2: “How confident are you in the overall integrity of the County Elections Office?”

Average response: 8.69.

Now let’s look at the results by party affiliation:

• Democrats: 3,156 respondents, average score Q1: 9.77; Q2: 9.70
• Republicans: 752 respondents, average score Q1: 5.03; Q2: 5.24
• No Party Preference: 911 respondents, average score Q1: 8.53; Q2: 8.55

If these survey responses accurately represent overall local GOP sentiment — that local election results can’t be trusted — they should challenge the results that put Cunningham back into the Assembly.

They won’t, of course.

Tribune Columnist Tom Fulks serves on the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee.

This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 1:04 PM.