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SLO County official accused of misusing public resources and partisanship

May 31, 2026

SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano

By KAREN VELIE

Correction: The clerk-recorder’s candidate statement is properly listed after the supervisor candidates.

A competitor in the race for San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder has accused incumbent Elaina Cano of using government resources for political gain and for partisanship in the race.

Vanessa Rozo is challenging SLO County Clerk Recorder Elaina Cano in the primary election. Rozo has asked both the California Secretary of State and the SLO County District Attorney to look into her concerns.

CalCoastNews looked into several allegations from Rozo and from other election watchers.

In some county voter guides, next to Cano’s candidate statement, there is an advertisement promoting the clerk recorder’s office in what some see as supporting Cano’s reelection.

California law prohibits public officials from using or permitting others to use public resources for campaign activity. Public resources consist of any property or asset owned by a government agency, including telephones, computers, internet and state-compensated time.

Last week, using her county Facebook account, Cano congratulated a high school student for endorsing SLO County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding’s campaign, another alleged misuse of county resources for campaign purposes.

For years, Republican women’s group have complained that under Cano, the clerk-recorder’s office engages in partisanship,

Under previous clerk-recorders, the county permitted groups like The League of Women Voters (primarily Democratic) and Republican Women groups to adopt a poll. The groups would then man the poll.

However, several years ago, Cano told the Republican Women groups they could no longer adopt a poll because the name included a political designation, which has led to a shortage of poll workers.

Last week, Cano announced she may have to consolidate some of the polls because of worker shortages. However, shortly afterwards, those positions were filled.

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16 Comments

The criminal syndicate has installed their people in many strategic positions, most importantly in the place where the votes are counted.


-1

Still amazing how often and how many the government officials with no situational awareness, regardless of something being legal or illegal.


17

And yet we are constantly told we have to pay them so much to get quailty people, that certainly isn’t the case, many many times, including here.


15

I just looked at my voter information guide tonight, sorry but there were 3 other pages following candidate statements that could have been put next to Cano’s page that would have been less questionable or even leave a blank.page, no way the way it was done wasn’t done on purpose either at the direction of Cano or by someone in her office intentionally, both options seriously call into question Cano’s abilities to run her office fairly.


5

Very Sad. Ms. Cano. Her credibility is totally gone.


18

The fact that citizens have suspicions about California election integrity AT ALL, should be the flag that many, if not all, registrars of voters should be voted out. Especially one like Cano, who wears her biases on her sleeves.


11

This is a stretch, even for CCN. The “ad” is not a political ad; it doesn’t even mention Cano by name. Velie doesn’t like Cano. Cano sneezes, Velie figures out some way to make her look bad.


5

Being allowed to run and officiate an election you are a candidate in is not a conflict at all! Prove me wrong!


-13

Ms. Cano also included several elected officials on her endorsement list. She oversees or oversaw their elections. Isn’t this a conflict? She’s well ahead of her opponent so why take the chance on what seems to be an obvious lapse of judgement?


31

The mob and election tampering strategy is to harass and intimidate. It worked to chase off Tommy Gong because he was too efficient and didn’t play favorites. The mob wants to move out people to get somebody in who will “fix” things for them. They use social media to claim they are so above board. Oh sure. Those lies only works at a Trump rally.


4

Wow! Cano received contributions of $2,000 from the Paso Robles Democratic Club and $1,500 from the Atascadero Democratic Club in addition to $1,500 from Democratic big fish Attorney Don Ernst, who has been identified with alleged campaign disclosure law violations in both 2022 and 2026 SLO county elections. Appearance of partisanship!


48

Oh come on !!! A fine young not affiliated politically candidate would never actually be a horrible Democrat shill, helping bolster results!!


0

yes and she got some support money from me.

Voting for ms Rozo is like calling the plumber when you need a dentist.

I was at the candidate forum; Ms rozo has no experience, is very emotional and frankly does not understand the job duty.


4
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