Elections Update: Close of Candidate Filing, Residency Confirmation Postcards, and Upcoming Sticker Contest Entry Deadline

Author: Erin Clausen
Date: 3/6/2026 1:02 PM

Friday, March 6 marks the end of the regular candidate filing period for the June 2nd Statewide Direct Primary Election. Additionally, residency confirmation postcards have begun hitting SLO County mailboxes, and the deadline for the 2026 "I Voted" sticker design contest is coming up March 10.

To date, both Supervisorial District 2 and the County Superintendent of Education appear to be offices for which the filing extension will be applied. Candidates for all other offices are required to provide completed paperwork and filing fees by 5pm to qualify for the ballot.

The postcards, which were mailed to every registered voter, are part of the legally mandated process for maintaining voter rolls that are as accurate as possible. In some cases, a voter may have moved but maintained a business or P.O. Box mailing address; because ballots are assigned based on physical residence address, confirming this information enables the Elections Office to generate and send the correct ballot type with all appropriate contests on which that person can vote.

Another example is that of a voter who hasn't yet moved but knows that they will be doing so prior to Election Day in June. Again, updating this information now will allow the Elections Office to send only the appropriate ballot to that voter, and only send it once.

"Because ballots are mailed to all registered voters by 29 days prior to Election Day, I've got to send the voter data to the mailhouse vendor 60 days out from the election," said Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano. "That's why the postcards go out now - to get the most recent and accurate updates, but to allow time for the printer to turn around ballots and corresponding voter information guides on time."

Any voter who wants to check their registration status can do that at MyVoterStatus.sos.ca.gov. Anyone interested in reviewing who has filed to run for office can see the candidates list posted at SloVote.gov/June2026. The semi-final list will be posted this evening, after staff have confirmed the eligibility of everyone who files by the 5pm deadline. The list will be updated again after next Wednesday's extension deadline.

Next week will also mark the close of the entry period for the 2026 "I Voted" sticker design contest. Local students in grades 3-12 have until 5pm on Tuesday, March 10 to submit their designs digitally or as physical renderings. The Elections Office said that it is also looking for "Future Voter" and "Yo vote" designs and will submit all entries to the mayors of SLO County's seven cities for anonymous voting and selection of the winners.