The election is 15 days away and if you’re not yet registered to vote, you have just a few more hours to do so.
At stake on Election Day: who will succeed Governor Jerry Brown and who will represent the Central Coast in Congress.
Voters will also decide on about a dozen statewide propositions and a slew of local races and measures.
The deadline to register to vote is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22.
The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s office has closed for the evening but they’ve put voter registration forms out front. All you need to do is fill it out and drop it off in the box outside the County Government Center on Monterey Street.
“We’re setting records for this election,” said County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong.
Gong says people are making sure their voices are heard this election. One-percent more voters are registered for this election compared to the 2016 presidential election.
“Which is very unusual,” Gong explained. “I think it’s because voters are just really engaged and really want to participate during this election, which is a great thing.”
As of Monday morning, there were more than 169,000 eligible voters in San Luis Obispo County. More than 58,000 are registered as Democrats and more than 59,000 are registered as Republicans. A large chunk declined to state party affiliation.
“I think that the awareness for voting has definitely increased over the years,” said Mikie Howard, who re-registered to vote at a booth set up at Cal Poly on Monday afternoon.
It’s a quick and easy process.
“Two minutes, less probably,” Howard said.
“It’s very convenient,” Gong pointed out. “We just direct voters to our website which is slovote.com.”
From the main page, just click on “Voter Registration.” Gong says you’ll need your California driver’s license and an address.
“You can see there’s five steps that are involved and they can complete it in just a few minutes,” Gong added.
About 13.5 percent of the vote-by-mail ballots have been returned so far.
“It’s important to flex your right to vote and be part of the democratic process,” Howard concluded.
The Santa Barbara County Clerk-Recorder’s Office says more than 214,000 people have registered to vote. That number is down compared to 220,000 in 2016 but they expect it to increase and be right on par with that previous number.
If you miss the Monday deadline to register to vote, you can still register conditionally through Election Day. Those ballots are treated as provisional ballots.
Related links:
California Online Voter Registration
