Voter turnout remains low in San Luis Obispo County

May 30, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

The number of ballots currently returned in San Luis Obispo County, 21%, suggests a low voter turnout for Tuesday’s election, according to California’s ballot return statistics report from Friday. In 2022, the final countywide turnout was 48%.

Even though there are 61 candidates in the race for California governor, there are three top candidates vying for two spots in the November runoff election: Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer. It is suspected some voters are holding off returning their ballots because of uncertainty in the governor’s race.

With only two candidates in both of SLO County supervisorial elections, winners will be determined in the June 2 primary election.

With no incumbent in the race, the battle over the SLO County District 2 supervisor seat is between two candidates: Michael Woody and Jim Dantona. District 2 voters have returned 5,340 ballots with 2,436 from Democrats, 1,833 from Republicans and 1,071 from decline to state, according to California Primary Ballot Tracker.

In the fight for the 4th Supervisorial District — pitting incumbent Jimmy Paulding against challenger Adam Verdin — turnout is the highest of all five districts. Voters have returned 6,577 ballots with 2,892 from Republicans, 2,392 from Democrats and 1,333 from decline to state, according to California Primary Ballot Tracker.

In a breakdown of which party has returned the most ballots in SLO County – Republicans lead with 11,387 ballots returned followed by Democrats with 9,968 ballots returned. according to California Primary Ballot Tracker.

To catch the latest forum of all four supervisor candidates, tune your radio to 98.5 FM at 3 p.m. on Sunday.