Elections staff empty ballot boxes and document the contents in the lobby of the Clerk-Recorder's Office

Elections Office Issues Timeline for Next Steps in the Official Canvass

Author: Erin Clausen
Date: 11/7/2024 10:07 AM

The SLO County Elections Office has released an overview and timeline for the official canvass, including updates regarding ballot counts and tabulation schedule

The SLO County Elections Office has announced that there will be an Unprocessed Ballots Report generated by 3pm today, November 7. This report, which outlines the current number of ballots that remain to be counted, is required by the California Secretary of State’s Office and must be submitted to the SOS by this deadline. A copy of the report will also be posted online at SloVote.com/November 2024 at the same time.

In addition, the Elections Office has announced that they will be tabulating the next batch of Vote-by-Mail ballots on Friday, November 8, and will be posting an update to the unofficial results by 5pm that day. The updated results will also be posted to SloVote.com/November2024. Ballots are processed and tabulated in order according to the date received, and they are not separated or prioritized based on district or contest.

Per California Elections Code, the official canvass for the November 5, 2024, General Election takes place over the 28 days immediately following Election Day. During the canvass, the Elections Office takes the following steps:
 
  • Scans all voter signatures from the Election Day polling place rosters and credits voter records
  • Sorts out-of-county ballots received and forwards those to the appropriate counties as required within 8 days
  • Tabulates the Vote-by-Mail ballots received on or after November 2, including those cast at the polls and those forwarded to San Luis Obispo by other counties
  • Processes and tabulates ballots received from military and overseas voters
  • Researches and determines the eligibility of each provisional ballot cast before tabulating those
  • Adjudicates every ballot flagged by the tabulators as having a write-in vote, an overvote, or stray marks that render any contest unreadable or indeterminate

In addition, the Elections Office will be conducting the legally required 1% Manual Tally on Wednesday, November 13. During the manual tally, the Clerk-Recorder randomly selects one percent of the ballots cast at the polls and one percent of Vote-by-Mail ballots tabulated at that point and compares a hand count of those ballots with the machine count generated by the tabulators. This process is one of the checks and balances built into California Election Code and validates the accuracy of the tabulators.

Regarding provisional ballots, Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano has said that there were an unprecedented number of these cast during this election, many by Cal Poly students voting for the first time or voting for the first time in SLO County. The volume of provisional ballots means that Elections staff will be dedicating much of the canvass time to confirming those voters’ registrations and eligibility.

After counting and posting updated results on Friday, Cano said she expects to tabulate at least once a week until every eligible ballot has been counted. A notice will be added to the Clerk-Recorder homepage each day that counting occurs, and as with all other steps in the canvass, tabulation is publicly observable.

The official canvass for the November 5, 2024, General Election will conclude and SLO County’s election will be certified on December 3.