San Luis Obispo County attempts to rectify voter guide error

May 13, 2026

SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorders Office on Tuesday mailed out a list of endorsed candidates it wrongly omitted from voter guide pages to all registered voters in an attempt to correct its error.

California law allows the six approved parties – Democrat, Republican, American Independent, Green, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom – to have their endorsements in voter guides in all counties. Even though SLO County received the American Independent Party’s endorsement list, county staff failed to include the list in the voter guide.

After noticing the error, American Independent Party State Chairman Vic Marani asked Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano to rectify the omission.

Initially, Cano’s plan was to put all six party endorsements on social media and on the county website as a remedy.

After discovering her plan was not sufficient, Cano agreed to mail out a postcard to all registered voters in the county with the American Independent Party endorsement list, according to the clerk-recorders Facebook page.

Clerk-recorder office staffers then argued on the office’s social media account that the omission was not Cano’s fault, leading to another allegation Cano’s employees violated rules against using public resources to promote a candidate.

It is unlawful in California “for any elected state or local officer, including any state or local appointee, employee, or consultant, to use or permit others to use public resources for a campaign activity.”