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SLO County District 2 supervisor race recount canceled

December 29, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

The Paso Robles woman who requested a recount and inspection of ballots received in the District 2 San Luis Obispo County supervisorial race terminated the recount Thursday morning noting issues with transparency, according to Darcia Stebbens.

Supervisor Bruce Gibson defeated challenger Dr. Bruce Jones by just 13 votes in the November election, prompting Stebbens to request the recount. Before the recount was halted, Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano agreed to count one ballot that her staff had failed to properly tally.

As of Wednesday, Cano’s office had recounted six of the 27 District 2 precincts with no change in the results. The contested ballot had not yet been tallied.

The total cost of the recount was estimated at $80,000. Stebbens had already paid $45,975 before halting the recount, according to Cano.

In a press release, Stebbens outlined her reason for asking for the recount and why she decided to cancel it. Stebbens said she made several records requests weeks before the recount started, but Cano refused to provide multiple records including a list of who actually voted.

Dr. Bruce Jones thanked his supporters and said he plans to continue supporting good government.


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There should have been a recount at NO cost! Seeing that there were mistakes” made in the initial count. If there was even one question of mishandling, and the count so very close, that should have warranted and immediate recount.

You would think GIBSON would have insisted as well! Being the forthright person he claims to be right?

I sure hope MS. Cano will be replaced by next election, seeing that she was not capable of handling the count properly.


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If someone truly had evidence of voter fraud or other illegal activity, they could contact the authorities, and it could be settled in court. But because there is no evidence, all we have is a bunch of lame, accusations, and harmful rhetoric from a bunch of sore losers.


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A couple questions. Why did the count stop for almost two weeks? There were approximately 9000 votes yet to be counted county wide. At that point, Mr. Jones had pulled within 37 votes of Gibson.


It’s interesting in that this was the time when the 337 votes or whatever number it was, were discovered, and were now in play. Some were found in Atascadero and some in the Government Center in SLO from reports. Is this true? Who is the person or people who discovered these ballots? Who were the ones responsible for them being misplaced or not correctly accounted for? These are legitimate question that need to be CLEARLY answered. Were they mis-trained poll workers, part of Cano’s staff? Who? Can we get those answers? Mail in ballots? Precinct ballots? Where were they from?

It was known way before the election, most importantly By Mrs. Cano, that the election by state law had to be certified by December 8th. It was announced in the week prior; the counting would resume December 7th. Again, with this being known, why Mrs. Cano was the vote count stopped for almost two weeks. I’m sorry, but this just doesn’t pass the smell test.

Who won District 2 is irrelevant to me in all of this. The appearance of very strong incompetence and very sloppy accounting of ballots is a glaring question that needs to be answered. It’s amazin so many don’t want these questions answered by the very person who caused all of these questionable conditions and actions, Mrs. Cano. Shaddy doings at best. Ethical people and county leaders would demand answers to these questions.


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