County shattered its all-time turnout percentage at 88.35%
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Official Canvass for the Presidential General Election was completed and the election was certified by the County Clerk-Recorder on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
The official canvass procedures include counting all vote-by-mail and provisional ballots turned in at the polls, balancing the number of voters who signed the voter service center rosters to the number of ballots cast, and completing a 1% manual tally to ensure the voting machines counted correctly.
“The 2020 Presidential General Election is one for the ages,” said SLO County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong. “With unprecedented circumstances due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, all voters in California were sent vote-by-mail ballots and fundamental changes were made to precinct operations to maintain a safe voting environment across the state. Many other counties throughout the state suffered devastating wildfires and public safety power shutdowns. With much political unrest throughout the nation, this election was among the most divisive and the most closely watched in the modern election era. Yet counties, large and small, performed admirably despite the challenges they faced. I give all the credit to my staff members, fellow county departments for their assistance, consultants, and numerous election workers for making this election exceedingly successful.”
A record-breaking number of registered voters at 184,050, along with an unprecedented number of ballots cast at 162,615, the most ever in San Luis Obispo, the County shattered its all-time turnout percentage at 88.35%, smashing the previous record of 83.14% set in 2008.
Currently, this puts San Luis Obispo among the top five counties with the highest voting percentage. San Luis Obispo landed in the top 12 counties during the 2012 and 2016 Presidential Elections.
“I believe the additional efforts made to voter outreach and education helped move the needle on voter turnout,” Gong said.
Significantly shifted was the number of SLO County voters voting by mail compared to those voting in person — 152,741 voted by mail (93.93% of voters), the highest number of VBM ballots ever cast in any election, while 9,874 voted in person (6.07% of voters).
The final official results are posted at www.slovote.com. The final precinct by precinct results will be posted to this website in the coming days.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
PASO ROBLES
Current District 3 Paso Robles City Councilmember Steve Gregory came in with 100% of the votes as he was unopposed for this year’s election.
District 4’s current Councilman Fred Strong earned re-election with 61.61% of the vote while challenger Jacob Allred had 38.39%.
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. Dorian Baker with 13.09%, Chris Bausch with 12.53%, and Jim Reed with 12.12% and Nathan Williams with 9.44% secured the seats.
As for Measure J-20, Paso Robles 1% Sales Tax passed with 56.56%.
ATASCADERO
Current Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno retained the seat with 43.63% of the vote, Jerry Tanimoto was in second with 32.98%, and Josh Donovan with 23.39%.
Incumbent Charles Bourbeau and challenger Mark Dariz won the two City Council seats with 27.71% and 24.91% of the votes, respectively.
Tori Keen was third with 22.52%, followed by Nicholas Mattson with 18.59%, and Bret Heinemann with 6.27% of the vote.
The Atascadero Unified School District School Board has three seats open, and all three incumbents, Mary Kay Mills with 26.47%, Terri Switzer with 25.98%, and Corrine Kuhnle with 24.81%, will continue on the board. Newcomer Vy Pierce came in at 22.75%.
As for the measures, Measure D-20, Atascadero’s 1% Sales Tax passed with 58.6%.
Measure C-20, AUSD’s School Bond at 54.4% did not reach the 55% supermajority threshold it needed for passage.
TEMPLETON
Incumbents Nelson Yamagata and Ted Dubost and challenger Mendi Swan with 22.16%, 20.27%, and 18.96%, respectively, were 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 31.75%, Navid Fardanesh with 30.88% and Debra Logan with 26.48%, were re-elected.
OTHER NOTABLE NORTH COUNTY RACES
• San Miguel Joint Union School District Board — Incumbent Michael J. Sanders with 34.75% and Constantino Victor Delgado with 39.87% won the two seats.
• SMJUSD’s school bond, Measure I, barely passed with 55.18%. It required a supermajority (55%) for passage.
• Shandon Joint Unified School District Board — Incumbent Flint Speer with 53.92% earned the seat over Amy Russell with 46.08%.
• SJUSD’s school bond, Measure H, passed with 62.57%.
• Ground Squirrel Hollow Community Services District — In the election for three seats, Allen Duckworth with 30.4%, Kevin McCamy with 27.89% and Scott Simons with 27.68%, all won.
• U.S. Representative, 24th District — Incumbent Democrat Salud Carbajal (58.7%) led Republican Andy Caldwell (41.3%), based on results from the California Secretary of State website.
• State Senator, 17th District — Democrat John Laird (64.7%) was leading Republican Vicki Nohrden (35.3%), 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 55.29% percent from SLO County voters while President Donald Trump and Mike Pence had 42.22%.
