It’s election season again, and voters are being bombarded with adverts from politicos via nearly every conceivable medium, but County elections officials are warning folks about who they can and can’t trust.
“Outreach to voters is ramping up,” said a news release from the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. “While a fair amount of outreach is done in good faith, there are some organizations that will deliberately try to confuse or mislead voters. The SLO County Elections Office wants to remind residents that there are only two official sources of information about their voter registration status: the County Elections Office and the California Secretary of State.”
County Clerk-Recorder, Elaina Cano said, “Voter rolls are updated constantly, based on updates from state and local agencies and from voters themselves. “We are in daily contact with the Secretary of State’s Office, which maintains the official database of voter registration, called VoteCal.”
Cano gave a special warning about the latest trend in campaigning — text messaging.
Cano warned that the proliferation of text-based marketing leads to blasts from candidates seeking donations, as well as texts urging people to register to vote. While the texts are often well intended, be wary of those that inform you of some problem with your voter registration.
“Our office,” Cano said, “will only ever contact you by phone, email, or mail — never by text. And the SOS sends texts only when you sign up for BallotTrax, the program that alerts you when your ballot is mailed, received, or counted.”
Readers can check their registration status online at the Secretary of State’s website, see: VoterStatus.sos.ca.gov or you can call the SLO County Elections Office at (805) 781-5228 to check your true voter status.
