Elections Office: Less than 5K Ballots Remaining to be Counted

SLO County sets voter turnout record — 84.85%

SAN LUIS OBISPO — The San Luis Obispo County Elections Office released its updated Election Summary Report on Monday, Nov. 10, stating there were only 4,927 remaining ballots — 2,438 vote-by-mail, 2,362 provisional. The General Election was held on Nov. 3.

With so few ballots remaining to be counted, all but one of the North County races remains in doubt — the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District School Board’s final seat. Nathan Williams held a 110 vote lead over Jim Cogan for the fourth seat with an estimated 830 ballots — 379 vote-by-mail and 451 provisional — remaining to be counted.

None of the North County races changed significantly with Monday’s update.

As of the close of election night, 117,974 ballots were counted. According to Monday’s update, 156,174 ballots had been counted.

Voter turnout for SLO County increased to a record 84.85 percent. The previous high was 83%.

“Counting has gone very smoothly, and yes, I am definitely aiming for completion just before Thanksgiving,” SLO County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong said.

Vote-by-mail accounted for 148,733 votes in SLO County, with 7,441 people voting at polling locations. SLO County mailed a vote-by-mail ballot to every registered voter, but people had the option of voting in-person.

The number of vote-by-mail ballots remaining to be counted could change as more ballots arrive at the County Elections Office. Vote-by-mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, Nov. 3, and received by the Elections Office within 17 days of the election are eligible to be counted.

County elections officials must report their final results to the Calif. Secretary of State for the Presidential contest by Dec. 1 and all other state and federal contests by Dec. 4. The Secretary of State will certify the results on Dec. 11.

PASO ROBLES

As of 5:16 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9, current District 3 Paso Robles City Councilmember Steve Gregory came in with 100% of the votes and was unopposed for this year’s election.

District 4’s current Councilman Fred Strong earned re-election with 61.95% of the vote while challenger Jacob Allred had 38.05%.

The City of Paso Robles Treasurer had only one candidate running, Ryan Cornell, who received 100% of the votes.

The Paso Robles Joint Unified School District had 12 people vying for the four open seats. As of Friday, Dorian Baker with 13.11%, Chris Bausch with 12.59%, and Jim Reed with 12.14%, had secured seats on the board. Williams with 9.35% held a narrow lead over Cogan with 9.19%.

As for Measure J-20, Paso Robles 1% Sales Tax passed with 56.33%.

ATASCADERO

As of 5:16 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9, current Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno will retain the seat with 43.71% of the vote, Jerry Tanimoto was in second with 33.16%, and Josh Donovan with 23.13%.

Incumbent Charles Bourbeau and challenger Mark Dariz won the two City Council seats with 27.88% and 24.95% of the votes, respectively.

Tori Keen was third with 22.59%, followed by Nicholas Mattson with 18.42%, and Bret Heinemann with 6.15% of the vote. Dariz saw his lead grow to 568 votes over Keen with 443 ballots remaining.

The Atascadero Unified School District School Board has three seats open, and all three incumbents, Mary Kay Mills with 26.49%, Terri Switzer with 26.02%, and Corrine Kuhnle with 24.86%, will continue on the board. Newcomer Vy Pierce came in at 22.63%.

As for the measures, Measure D-20, Atascadero’s 1% Sales Tax passed with 58.59%. And Measure C-20 AUSD’s School Bond passed with 54.22%.

TEMPLETON

As of 5:16 p.m., Monday, Nov. 9, incumbents Nelson Yamagata and Ted Dubost and challenger Mendi Swan with 22.19%, 20.45%, and 18.95%, respectively, were re-elected to the Templeton Unified School District School Board.

The Templeton Community Services District had three seats open, and all three incumbents, Pamela Jardini with 31.74%, Navid Fardanesh with 30.95% and Debra Logan with 26.53%, were re-elected.

OTHER NOTABLE NORTH COUNTY RACES

• San Miguel Joint Union School District Board — Incumbent Michael J. Sanders with 34.87% and Constantino Victor Delgado with 39.47% won the two seats.

• SJUSD’s school bond, Measure I passed with 54.47%.

• Shandon Joint Unified School District Board — Incumbent Flint Speer with 54.11% earned the seat over Amy Russell with 45.89%.

• SJUSD’s school bond, Measure H, passed with 61.90%.

• Ground Squirrel Hollow Community Services District — In the election for three seats, Allen Duckworth with 30.38%, Kevin McCamy with 27.89% and Scott Simons with 27.68%, all won.

• U.S. Representative, 24th District — Incumbent Democrat Salud Carbajal (58.8%) led Republican Andy Caldwell (41.2%), based on results from the California Secretary of State website.

• State Senator, 17th District — Democrat John Laird (65%) was leading Republican Vicki Nohrden (35%), based on the California Secretary of State website results.

• State Assembly, 35th District — Incumbent Republican Jordan Cunningham (55.1%) was leading Democrat Dawn Addis (44.9%), based on the California Secretary of State website results.

• U.S. President and Vice President — Democrat Joe Biden and Kamala Harris received 55.52% percent from SLO County voters while President Donald Trump and Mike Pence had 42.05%.

To see the full results for local and national, visit www.pasoroblespress.com and www.atascaderonews.com or www.slocounty.ca.gov/Departments/Clerk-Recorder.

Remaining Ballots by District in North County