As San Luis Obispo County elections officials started work on a resident’s request for a hand recount of the 4th District supervisor race on July 19, a sitting county supervisor voted the same day to “protest” the June 7 election results.
“I just want to say that I still have some unresolved concerns about the accuracy of the ballot counting,” 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold said, without citing evidence, during a meeting where the Board of Supervisors formally declared the results. “Some of my concerns stem from the recent changes to the election processes. All-mail, drop boxes, the use of tabulation … I believe they make our elections less secure.”
Earlier that morning, across the hall from the board chambers, Paso Robles resident Darcia Stebbens dropped off a $12,282 cashier’s check to the county clerk-recorder to kick off the hand recount she requested of the race between incumbent Supervisor Lynn Compton and Supervisor-elect Jimmy Paulding.
The recount, which Stebbens asked for on July 12 and must pay for, is estimated to take up to seven weeks and cost upward of $100,000, according to Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano. Paulding won the election by 639 votes, per the certified results. Compton is not a participating party in the recount, she told New Times.
On July 15, Stebbens, Richard Patten—author of SLO County’s redistricting map—and Laura Mordaunt filed paperwork to start a political fundraising committee named the SLO County Citizens Action Team. On July 19, the Republican Party of SLO County shared a Citizens Action Team flyer to its Facebook page calling for donations to help fund the recount.
“Believe in accurate and honest elections? How many ballots did you receive? Where are all the unused ballots? … Help us shine the light on how these votes got counted,” the flyer read. “A small but mighty group of citizens are standing up for Truth and Transparency, will you stand with them [?]”
The flyer lists the group’s goals as: “to purge the voter rolls”; “require photo voter ID”; “election day only voting”; “smaller consolidation of precincts”; “election day becomes a holiday or half day for voting”; “counting precinct voted ballots election night”; and “follow up with machine counting.”
No finance records for the committee were available by press time. An email to the committee went unreturned. The phone number listed matched that of the Republican Party of SLO County headquarters in Atascadero.
In order for the recount to continue moving forward, Stebbens must pay a daily deposit of $2,930 to the county clerk’s office. As of July 20, Cano said her office was working to isolate all of the ballots from the 4th District—a process that is likely to take several days in and of itself.
“There’s a lot of preparation that has to go into it,” Cano told New Times. “We have to now open up every one of our ballot boxes that has a ballot that contains the 4th District. I want to say it’s almost all of them.”
Cano said that Stebbens listed five specific precincts she wanted the county to prioritize, which her staff is focusing on first.
The request for a recount is the first that Cano’s seen in her clerking career from a non-candidate in a race. While she said she’s sympathetic to residents’ concerns and confusion about changes to elections, she is “100 percent confident in the process and security of the election” and believes the recount will demonstrate that.
“This is what I’d urge people who are still on the fence about this: Be sure to be getting your information from the proper resource,” Cano said. “Elections are complex. It’s not easy. But it’s when other people try to provide their own opinions about how things are conducted, I think that’s where the confusion and mistrust [comes from] about really a process that is very, very, very secure.”
Cano’s assurances did not sway Arnold, who cast the lone dissent vote on the Board of Supervisors to declare the June 7 results—a typically routine action following elections.
“They’ve created so many vulnerabilities,” Arnold claimed, “that the public is losing confidence in the election process.” Δ
This article appears in Jul 21-31, 2022.
As one of her constituents, I am very disappointed to hear that Debbie Arnold is spreading the false election fears in our community. Just like the former president and many Republican politicians, she is trying to strip people of their voting rights and destroy our democracy for her own personal gain, and rally support for her political party by continuing to spread the “big lie” narrative. Just like Trump and other members of her party, she has no proof to support her claim. She said “they’ve” created vulnerabilities that are causing the public to lose confidence in the electoral process. First of all, who is “they” and why doesn’t she need to qualify those false, empty words? It is Arnold and the Trumplicans who have duped their far-right leaning base with lies and conspiracy theories. It is they who have eroded the Public’s trust in our voting system without any just cause or respect for the truth or system that put them where they are today. Using lies and political grandstanding, it is Arnold, and her republican counter-parts who are destroying our democracy. Now that the big lie it has seeped it’s way all the way down to our local politicians, all Americans need to stand up and say enough is enough. We need a system that doesn’t allow any politician to fabricate nonsense to satisfy their insatiable greed and lust for power without being held accountable to the truth. I voted for Arnold and helped put her in office. A decision many of her actions have made me regret. As a voting member of SLO County, I’m asking Arnold to stop this seriously destructive charade and withdraw her objection to certify the results.
These right-wing cult members are nuts.
It did not take long for the local yellow press CCN to start spinning their conspiracy theories. “SLO County’s Clerk-Recorder Counts on Herself” (July 1, 2022) is full of false speculation and false conspiracy theories.
Before that, Stew Jenkins, the losing candidate for Clerk-Recorder, unethically lurked around the Clerk-Recorder Election Office as an election observer. Seems he cannot see his conflicts of interest.
Now, Darcia Stebbens, of Paso Robles, applied for a recount of District 4, on behalf of Compton. A recount will be a waste of Stebbens’ money, and a waste of the clerk-recorder’s and our time.
As usual, CCN and local radio helped spread conspiracies by Debbie Arnold, from 10 years ago, about an elevator ride with Adam Hill (deceased) and Bruce Gibson, saying that she was bullied, which is all vague dated hearsay. Gibson does not corroborate her claims.
The cabal at CCN should really stop kicking the ‘dead horse,’ (Hill), any more. The dead horse will not get up, he is dead. You cannot torture him anymore. CCN is a trumpist cult. Enough with the paranoia and conspiracy theories.
The Clerk-Recorder and their staff conducted an excellent election and showed that SLO County has “election integrity.” We the voters have had enough of the right-wing’s trumpist lies.
I’m just waiting for the New York Times or the LA Times to do another disturbing commentary on the local GOP of SLO County, again.
Enough of these conspiracy theories – Please Stop!
Wanted to add this to the above analysis.
Having studyed cults, psychology and politics for decades, here are some observation of why Stew Jenkins lost that election so badly, and how he and his crew at the online yellow press are retaliating against the Clerk-Recorder with this recount; with a plea to stop their dangerous nonsense.
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Stew came in third in the clerk-recorder’s race, and he wonders why he lost. It also appears that he is a bad sport and a sore loser. It is likely that he is working with Arnold, Stebbens and Patton, behind the scenes, along with CCN, in this bogus recount of the ballots in District 4.
And knowing Stew, it sounded like that he most likely dictated the letter to the editor to CCN by Cynthia Muir – “SLO County’s Clerk-Recorder Counts on Herself” (7-1-22), which was full of false speculations and conspiracy theories. It sounded like something he would write.
Stew lost the election because the voters don’t like bullies, sociopaths, and/or narcissists, they are usually one in the same. Most voters like genuine people that care about their constituents and the common good, rather than sociopathic narcissists craving power.
He might want to stop running for office, since from the results, he will never win any local political races. The Shredder referred to Stew as “Mr. 15%.” And Ken Hampian said to the BOS meeting to select the clerk-recorder, to paraphrase, Stew is a political hack.
Even with the recount, it was good to see that Compton lost in District 4 due to her lies and secrecy and lack of policies, while avoiding doing interviews with the local newspaper of record. The conspiracies and lies that she spread with her vile dark mailers were sick. Even with the yellow press online tabloid working overtime, she lost. The recount is sure to find that the first election count for District 4 was accurate. What a waste of time.
Ms. Cano is the only candidate with experience in clerk-recorder and election offices. And she is doing a good job in that position, along with her staff. Stew Jenkins has no experience to hold that office, and the voters knew that.
“That’s how it goes, everybody knows” – Leonard Cohen
Stew suffers from white male entitlement syndrome. A person who thinks he is better than minorities and/or women in elected positions of public trust, and that thinks he should therefore be anointed to an ‘elected’ position over more qualified persons. Election results contradict that delusion of white male entitlement syndrome.
“I’m an expert, because I say I am…” – “The Garden of Allah” – Don Henley – fits the times, listen to it.
A writer wrote an excellent LTE to the Tribune “Cano Did the Right Thing,” showing the difference between Stew and the elected clerk-recorder when it comes to who has ethics and morals, and who does not. Hint: the person that has morals and ethics is not Stew. Ms. Cano did recuse herself from any involvement in the election counting. Jenkins should have recused himself from being an election observer, since he was a candidate. More conflicts of interests. How does he miss all of those conflicts of interest and other unethical actions?
It is amazing that he did not see all of those conflicts of interest running for clerk-recorder. The attacks on Tommy Gong with all of Stew’s and CCN’s cult minions and attackers at the BOS meeting’s public comments, which made Gong resign. It looked like Joseph McCarthy’s style of fascism. “Have you (and your cult) no decency?”
Stew and the three right-wing supervisors on the BOS seem to be following trump’s playbook, to cheat in elections to win at all costs, even if they have to lie, and try to discredit our elections system. Or if they lose an election, they will just torture the electoral system and try and destroy it. That is not democracy, that is fascism.
And then there was that dirty trick, which Stew more than likely concocted, of having his buddy T. K. Gurnee’s and his old high school buddy, Mike Nolan, file that frivolous lawsuit about comma placement on the ballot, of what Ms Cano’s name should be on the ballot. That was pathetic and sleazy, and most likely an intimidation tactic. It was good that the judge threw that frivolous law suit out of court.
The attorneys involved with that frivolous lawsuit should be sanctioned.
Rudy Giuliani and Lindsay Graham have been subpoenaed for their election tampering in Georgia. That is not much different than the shenanigans going on here in SLO County by the local right-wing.
Enough with the white patriarchy, paranoia and conspiracy theories.
Please stop this destructive nonsense, and convince your Tea Party cult to stop concocting this misinformation about “not having election integrity,” for the sake of our democracy.
The truth is we have election integrity here in SLO County, thanks to having a competent person in charge at the clerk-recorder / election office.
[My thoughts about cults, after studying cults, politics, psychology and fascism for decades:
I do not know who my brother has become over the last ten or so years. He seems to feed on hate and conspiracy theories, as cult members do.
Cults tend to eliminate the individual, and replace it with the groupthink of the ‘cause’ to capture more cult members, all to gain power and control.
It is sad, my brother is a stranger to me. Makes me shake my head.
What happened to the guy? Oh, that’s right, he was brainwashed by the CCN Cult.]
I for one appreciate the above thoughtful comments. As to Debbie Arnold … at least she is putting potential supporters on notice that if they are with her, they are against the democratic traditions that have sustained this country and state for about 250 years.
As the comments described in Peter Johnson’s excellent article show, the only thing these radicals believe in is finding any angle — ANY angle — to use as an argument to explain away a loss. Spoilsports all. To take just one example: how can one argue for both hand ballot counting (since voting machines are suspect) and having all the ballots counted in one day? Perhaps Ms. Arnold has many friends who would be happy to pitch in and count?
This ridiculous recount/money raising effort also shows that Trumpism has less to do with racism or classism and more to do with acquiring and holding raw power so as to benefit from the gains that flow from such control.
Bottom line: an excellent reason to actively support Bruce Gibson for District 2 Supervisor. Vote for the guy who believes in democracy and the integrity of our hard-working public workers, including election officials and volunteers.