When it comes to the “Voter’s Choice Act,” SLO County voters won’t get one, after the County Clerk decided he didn’t want to try and implement the new system for the 2018 election season.
County Clerk-Recorder Tommy Gong last week told County Supervisors that his office would not be implementing Senate Bill 450, also called the Voter’s Choice Act, in 2018.
“SB450 would have changed the typical election model with polling places and the option vote by mail to one with all vote by mail voting with fewer vote centers open for multiple days leading up to and including Election Day,” said Gong in a news release. SLO County was one of 14 counties having the option whether to implement SB450 in 2018, he explained.
Gong conducted a, 8-month feasibility study of the legislation to see “if elections could be conducted under the prescriptive requirements of SB450,” he said. He put together a focus group of people representing multiple groups with diverse views on elections over the summer.
With their help he decided not to implement SB450. Determining factors included costs; the need for voter center locations and highly-trained election staff over multiple days; the need for extensive voter outreach and education with a shared media market between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties (without the option to implement SB450); and the need for reliable, uninterrupted communication and secured technology at vote center locations.
“The devil is in the details,” Gong said. “And I am not entirely clear how an election would operate under SB450. With still too many unanswered questions, and with looming deadlines, I will defer the viability of SB450 to the future.” Gong said he would re-visit SB450 for 2020, but for now, elections will be status quo in SLO.
