San Luis Obispo voters will see a different ballot format beginning this year. The city is adopting a new single-vote system for the city council.
Under the new system, which will begin this year, voters will select one candidate for the city council instead of up to two, as was previously allowed. The two candidates who receive the most votes will win the available seats.
The change applies only to city council elections and will not affect the mayoral race, in which voters already selected only one candidate.
According to Natalie Harnett, San Luis Obispo’s policy and project manager, the change has been in the works for several years, since a Latino voter-participation organization, the nonprofit Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), threatened to sue the city in 2023 if it didn’t transition to district elections.
The group claimed the city’s at-large voting system diluted the influence of local Latinos, who account for 18.4% of the city’s population, according to the census.
According to the City of San Luis Obispo website, the city evaluated three options: slightly adjusting citywide elections for council members, dividing San Luis Obispo into districts or entering into a costly legal battle.
SVREP has pushed for the change in cities across San Luis Obispo County. Paso Robles, Grover Beach and Atascadero have transitioned to district elections in recent years following comparable litigation threats.
“We wanted a system that keeps elections citywide while also addressing the concerns raised in the demand letter,” said Harnett. “The single-vote format allows voters to continue choosing council members citywide while avoiding the cost and complexity of moving to districts.”
Harnett said most voters already voted this way in the last election. About 70% selected just one council member candidate, even when they had the option to choose two.
The city plans to launch a multi-phase voter education campaign ahead of the 2026 election to help residents understand the new format and how to correctly fill out their ballots. The outreach effort will include community meetings, pop-up information booths and partnerships with local organizations, schools and colleges.
The campaign is intended to make sure voters know they can only select one candidate for city council and that choosing more than one will invalidate that portion of the ballot.
“We want to make sure residents understand what’s changing and why, and that they feel confident filling out their ballots correctly,” Harnett said. “Our goal is to keep voter participation strong and make the transition as smooth as possible.”
The city will also work with community partners to reach student voters and residents who may not be familiar with local election rules. While Cal Poly’s main campus sits outside city limits, students living off campus within San Luis Obispo are eligible to vote in city elections if they register locally.
Two council seats are up for election every two years, and each council member serves a four-year term. The mayor is also elected citywide every two years but serves a separate two-year term.
Additional information about the new voter system and upcoming outreach events will be shared on the city’s website and through public meetings in the coming months.