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SLO County clerk finds extra ballots, violates election code

November 29, 2022

SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Clerk Recorder’s Office discovered an additional 332 provisional ballots last week, after ordering election observers to leave the viewing area in an apparent violation of state law, observer Darcia Stebbens said.

On election night, the Clerk Recorder’s office reported that there were approximately 800 provisional ballots to be counted. Several days later, the county reported there were 927 provisional ballots. Then last Wednesday, the county reported there were 1,259 provisional ballots left to count, after discovering 332 provisional ballots at the county building in SLO, according to a county official.

If a voter’s name is not on the voter roll at their polling place, they have the right to vote a provisional ballot at any polling place in the county. Provisional ballots are not tallied until all mail-in ballots have been counted, according to state law.

On Nov. 23, county staff ordered ballot count observers to leave the observation room while they processed provisional ballots. However, the state requires that observers are “permitted to view vote-by-mail and provisional ballot processing.”

In her defense, SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano asserts she has a responsibility to protect confidential voter information.

While the state does not permit viewers to sit at the “official worktables or view confidential voter information on any computer terminal or document,” it requires that the public is able to observe the process.

Next to the election ballot processing room, is a room separated by a glass partition for observers, with some of the computer screens turned toward the observers. Several observers question why county staff does not turn the screens around instead of making the observers leave the room.

After CalCoastNew questioned the legality of ordering observers to leave the observation room, county staff agreed to allow observers to watch the processing of provisional ballots.

In addition, observers have complained that county staff requires them to stand during the count regardless of age or physical limitations, and fails to provide the public the required 48 hours notice before a count.

“I was able to stay for about three hours, but could not stand any longer,” said 86-year-old Jeannette Watson.

On Monday, county staff told SLO County District 2 supervisor candidate Bruce Jones that they were unsure when they would resume the count, but they were likely to count again on Wednesday morning, Jones said.

After questions were raised by CalCoastNews, the county has determined it cannot resume counting until Friday at the earliest because of the 48-hour notice requirement, though it appears state law requires the county to continue the canvas daily until finished.

“The canvass shall commence no later than the Thursday following the election, shall be open to the public …,” according to California Election Code 15301. “The canvass shall be continued daily, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted, for not less than six hours each day until completed.

The county has not yet announced the date of the next count.


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Cano has to go. When this is done, if it ever will be, she needs to go. Where is Rita Neal? Isn’t this something she should be interested in? The BOS need to hall Cano before them in a public meeting and hold her accountable for the failures of this fiasco. She must answer before the people for this shameful and incompetent behavior. How much are we paying for this position? My goodness what a sham.


53

“Chain of custody and record of activity” for ballots and other election documents & procedures isn’t some sort of complex quantum physics research. It’s actually very simple and straightforward for careful, conscientious, methodical, responsible & organized people. Since the Clerk’s Recorders Office reported 927 provisional ballots several days after the election, that clearly is the actual number of provisional ballots collected from all voting precinct locations after the polls closed on Tuesday night, November 8th. How do I know this? Easy. It is very simple to segregate, document and count provisional ballots submitted at each polling location and then securely seal them in a separate box for secure transport to a secure location in the secure Clerk’s Recorders Office. It is then straightforward and simple to open and count the full volume of all provisional ballots received from all precincts/polling places under the watchful eyes of security and election monitors. Most adults can count to one thousand and, in fact, one or more adult county employees did count the provisional ballots in a secure, accurate and responsible environment,…and arrived at the sum total of 927. Very straightforward and simple. Like I said, it isn’t rocket science.


The discovery of 332 additional provisional ballots strains credulity. It simply isn’t possible when simple chain of custody protocol is followed. The 332 newly discovered provisional ballots are counterfeit/fraudulent/fakes and must be discarded.


62

OMG -this is not good.


62

Computerize the voting already!! Way more turnout and the results are near instant. Waiting for senior citizens to count by hand doesn’t make any sense.


-62

Hand counting worked historically, and election results were announced in 12-72 hours (usually). This voting tabulation mess is the results of mass, unsolicited, mail out ballots, and early voting that in some instances like Pennsylvania, begins nearly a month in advance of “Election Day.” In an attempt to computerize (simplify) everything and use technology a mess has been created. The population of the United States has not grown that much since the 1980s or 90s. So to an earlier commenter, please, no comparisons to antebellum America. i’m not that old, LOL. I’m talking about just a decade or two ago.


26

How has there been an attempt to computerize exactly? Never once have i cast a vote electronically… Counting the mail in ballots using computer technology maybe is utilized idk.


-3

The last seven years at the Clerk Recorder’s office have been a mess, first with Tommy Gong, now with Elaine Cano.


Julie Rodewald was there for twenty years and did an excellent job. Come back, Julie–we need you!


77

Cano does not know the law. That’s Sad and Bad. Observers can watch the process Ms. Cano, they don’t have to see the details of each ballot. DO COME ALONG NOW!


56

Not providing a chair to an 86 year old doing their civic duty tells me everything I need to know about SLO Clerk Recorders office.


107

Keep finding new ballots to count and keep counting till your side wins…

Interesting strategy but the people have lost faith in our electoral process… and that’s a very bad thing to happen in a democratic republic….


140

What a friggin’ mess. When did SLO County become Arizona?


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