Crews at the San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder's Office are still working through tens of thousands of ballots from the June 2 primary, one week after Election Day.
More than a dozen seasonal election workers are on the job, ensuring ballots are postmarked on time and that signatures appear on the outside of each envelope. Workers flag ballots with “mismarks” or damage for further review. A mismark is a description for a variety of unknown marks on the ballot, such as when a voter appears to have filled in one circle, then either crossed it out or tried to change the vote. Or, it can be additional ink or material on the ballot, making it unclear as to who they intended to vote for, requiring follow-up from the county.
Rochelle Friedman, one of those seasonal election workers, described what can pull a ballot from the counting process.
"This one has a tear in the timing line," Friedman said, as she demonstrated a nearly two-inch diagonal tear in the corner of a ballot. "This line, right here, this border, is really critical for the counting machine. If it's disturbed in any way, it won't validate the ballot."
Penny Boyd, San Luis Obispo County Deputy Director Registrar, said there are multiple steps in place to ensure the logic and accuracy of each voter's intention.
If you are concerned about your signature, a scratch-out and re-vote, or a tear in your ballot, watch for mail from the Clerk-Recorder's Office. You will need to sign and return the documentation, or drop it off in the drop box outside the office.
If your ballot was flagged after the initial exam, you may only now be receiving notification. If you do not respond by mail, the office will call you.
A new sign went up outside the Clerk-Recorder's Office on Tuesday, explaining that cured, signed letters can be dropped off through June 24. Election workers counted an additional 11,600 ballots on Tuesday, a week after the primary, meaning more cure letters could be going out soon.
"It takes a lot of time to do an election," Friedman said.
The next batch of results from the office is expected on Wednesday by 6 p.m. Counting must be complete by June 15.
"On the 16th, we'll have our manual tally where we take one percent of those precinct ballots, and we count them by hand," Boyd said.
The official certification deadline is July 2.
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