San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano will have to defend her post against N-Hance Wood Refinishing owner Vanessa Rozo in the June 2026 primary election.
Oceano businesswoman Rozo is campaigning on a platform that mainly proposes to uphold accurate voter rolls and protect recorded property titles. She didn’t respond to New Times’ requests for comment.
“My ultimate goal is to restore and maintain public trust in the election process and the integrity of public records,” her website said. “I will vigilantly protect the nonpartisan nature of this essential role. This includes working to eliminate the disenfranchising of voter precincts, lobbying against gerrymandering, and holding candidates accountable for campaign fraud by utilizing the Public Integrity Unit.”
Campaign finance data showed that Rozo donated $1,325 to the Republican Party of SLO County in 2025. Her official campaign pages on Instagram and Facebook also contain pictures with Cal Poly Turning Point chapter representatives and with Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco—a Republican candidate for next year’s state governor race.
“This will be California’s turning point!” Rozo’s campaign Instagram page caption said under the photo with Bianco.
She holds a paralegal certificate from UC Santa Barbara with a focus on business law, probate, and corporate law, according to her website. She was also reportedly the national and international disaster relief coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Samaritan’s Purse, an international exchange student site director, and an English as a Second Language teacher.
Rozo’s website emphasized her commitments to include electronic poll books to verify voter identity through a “real-time communications line” between a vote center and the courthouse; mailing signature cards to all active voters prior to Election Day; establishing a “super precinct” that allows voters to cast ballots anywhere in the county; having no-excuse absentee voting that permits a voter to cast an absentee ballot for any reason; and appointing thoroughly vetted staff including an “election signature judge.”
“We don’t call them ‘judges’ in California,” SLO County Clerk-Recorder Cano said. “We don’t have judges here. We don’t have partisan influence. … We discourage any of that. My office is truly nonpartisan.”
Current election staff are vetted county employees who undergo background checks, Cano added. Signatures are verified by an election staff member who receives training from an FBI forensic handwriting specialist and go through multiple levels of verification.
Cano told New Times that the Elections Office already carries out some of the elements Rozo claims to champion.
“As I speak to you, we are already in contract negotiations to get e-poll books for the June elections,” she said. “Instead of signing on a paper roster, [voters] will be signing on a poll pad. We don’t have vote centers, and we don’t correlate anything to the court. That’s kind of misleading.”
According to the county clerk-recorder, the Elections Office already implements no-excuse absentee voting, adding that it’s not been an issue in the state for the past 15 to 20 years.
“Vote centers are huge on our list to look at in 2028,” Cano said.
Her office wanted to work on setting up vote centers in 2025, but the county budget deficit became a stumbling block. Taking 18 months to complete thanks to all the laws and regulations around them, the vote center process would start in 2027.
But Cano said that her office must consider if they’re really worth it.
In the recent election “4,500 people voted in person in all polling places,” she said. “Over 90 percent of voters returned their vote-by-mail ballot. … We’d be going down from 45 to 50, down to 18 polling centers. Is that what voters want?”
She added that mailing signature cards to all 185,000 registered voters as Rozo wants is unnecessary. Signatures are already on voter files and are part of their record in the county’s Election Management System. Any time a signature doesn’t compare, the office sends a letter at the end of the election to that voter with another voter registration card for them to fill out and sign.
“It costs a lot of money [to mail signature cards to all voters], and we don’t have resources like that in this county,” Cano said.
The clerk-recorder said her platform differs “tremendously” from Rozo’s because she brings more than 30 years of public service experience working with the cities of SLO and Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara County, and now SLO County to the table.
“The position of county clerk-recorder is not one where you can ‘learn on the job.’ There is no training program for this role—when you are elected, you are it. You don’t have a supervisor; you have 250,000 ‘bosses,’ the residents of San Luis Obispo County, and you are accountable to every one of them from day one,” she said. “Without the background and understanding of election law, public records, and administrative operations, the community’s trust would be at risk.” ∆
This article appears in Nov 13-23, 2025.
Ms. Cano has been the most scrutinized clerk-recorder in the history of SLO county and I believe she has come through with shining colors. Let’s not move to someone without previous experience in this important job.
Vanessa will do a great job as county clerk recorder. She stands by her values and will make a difference.
I’m excited to see a woman of strong convictions and character running for County recorder. Vanessa is someone that voters can count on to ensure election integrity is done well. Her background in running a business and managing people will be a huge asset to the county staff that she would be leading.
I would be one of those staff. As a Clerk-Recorder employee, I can say unequivocally that the current Clerk-Recorder, Elaina Cano, has the exact skills, experience, temperament, and character necessary for this highly specialized job. SLO County, and those of us who work under her every day, are incredibly fortunate that she serves in the role.
Elections processes are open to the public. Fortunately for Ms. Rozo, the November special election afforded her an opportunity to come in and witness first-hand the work she is running to personally oversee. There were 29 days before the election and 28 days of canvass activities after it. Unfortunately for voters, Ms. Rozo did not take advantage of that, coming in only one time, on election night, for less than an hour.
That was a missed opportunity, to say the least. It is easy enough to trumpet talking points about how she would serve in the role. As someone who would work directly for her, I find that her lack of engagement in the process during this cycle points to an interest in the office title — but not the actual work itself.
I think our county is ready for new leadership in this roll. Vanessa is a proven leader and great businesswoman.
I have known Vanessa for 25 years. She truly cares about our community and would make an excellent clerk recorder.
Vanessa is devoted Woman and would be an excellent choice in the role of Clerk Recorder. She brings forth honesty and is well equipped with integrity as well with organization for the role.