CVF in the News

Shasta County ditched its Dominion voting machines. Now, residents are braced for turmoil on Nov. 7

By Jessica Garrison, Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, November 2, 2023

Excerpt:

In many elections, the suspense comes from wondering which candidate is going to win.

In Shasta County, the question everyone is hanging on is: Will the local election next Tuesday bring unrest or even violence?

The county of about 200,000 people on the northern rim of the Central Valley made national news last spring when a far-right majority on the Board of Supervisors, swept up in unproven voter fraud claims, decided to dump Dominion voting machines and hand-count its ballots instead.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials then stepped in to stop the plan. On Oct. 4, Newsom signed a law limiting counties from hand-counting ballots. In response, Patrick Jones, chair of the Board of Supervisors, said he favored such a count anyway, declaring in the local newspaper: “I believe [the new law] does not affect Shasta County.”

Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors Meeting More Akin to Political Theater Than Civilized Government

By George Winship, A News Cafe, November 1, 2023

Excerpt:

Like a mongrel cross of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa “The Barber of Seville,” Patrick Henry Jones led his merry troupe of political players — better known as the Shasta County Board of Supervisors — on an 8-hour romp through a repertoire of old favorites cleverly coupled with some new agenda items to keep audience members guessing whether “The Gunsmith of Shasta” might be a hit or a miss.

Parts of the meeting were a farce as acts, cleverly designed as agenda items, were moved willy-nilly out of order while others were postponed to another yet-to-be-announced show date.

Shasta supervisors talk pay raises, Hart voting machines: What happened at Tuesday meeting

By David Benda, Record Searchlight, October 31, 2023

Except:

Jones got into it with county Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen over the contract with the Hart voting machines.

Jones alleged supervisors were misled by Darling Allen, claiming that they did not know the machines can also electronically tabulate ballots when they OK'd the contract.

Jones led the charge to develop a hand-count system in Shasta County after he, Crye and Kelstrom voted to terminate the county’s former contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

But it became moot when Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 4 signed into law AB 969, which bans the manual tally of ballots in all but the tiniest towns.

Last week, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, in a letter to Shasta supervisors, stated she expects the county to follow the law in the Nov. 7 special election.

California demands compliance after voting rights’ groups warns about Shasta County election

By Jenavieve Hatch, The Sacramento Bee, October 31, 2023

Excerpt:

California’s Secretary of State has told the Shasta County Board of Supervisors in a letter that it cannot hand-count ballots in its Nov. 7 special election.

In a letter sent Friday to the board and Cathy Darling Allen, Shasta’s registrar of voters, Secretary of State Shirley Weber said the county must comply with new legislation that bars the hand-counting of ballots. The letter was sent in response to one her office received just days earlier from a nonpartisan coalition of voting rights groups that voiced concerns about the safety and integrity of the vote.

Shasta County responds to letter from the Secretary of State

By Taylor Helmes, Action News Now, October 30, 2023

Excerpt:

The state said it will monitor Shasta County ahead of the November 7th special election.

Shasta County Board of Supervisors Chairman Patrick Jones said he expected a letter like this, but Shasta County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen said this letter is special.

The Secretary of State Shirley Weber sent the letter to the Board of Supervisors and Registrar of Voters on October 27th.

Jones called this an overreach by the state against the county and that he is seeking out legal firms to take this matter to court. He said he is more focused on the primary election in March 2024, not the special election next week.

Why Shasta County is at center of California voting, again

By Lynn LA, CAL Matters, October 30, 2023

Excerpt:

Normally an election to set up a fire district and fill one school board seat in a county with just 112,000 registered voters wouldn’t get statewide attention.

But the Nov. 7 election in Shasta County is far from normal and will be closely watched — including by the Secretary of State’s office.

That county’s Board of Supervisors has been embroiled in a series of battles between its conservative and more moderate members — all of whom are Republican. In January, the board voted 3-2 to cancel its contract with Dominion Voting for ballot-counting machines, which were the focus of unproven allegations about election fraud. The cancellation has prompted outcry at board meetings and a recall effort against Supervisor Kevin Crye, who recall proponents say was the swing vote in the decision.

“My Office Stands Ready To Take Any Actions Necessary”: California Secretary of State Warns That Shasta Elections Must Comply with New State Law

By Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout, October 29, 2023

Excerpt:

California’s Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, has responded to a letter sent last week by a group of nonprofit, nonpartisan voting rights advocates by issuing a stern warning to Shasta County officials. Comply with new state law AB 969, which forbids hand counting in jurisdictions with more than 1,000 registered voters, Weber wrote, or be ready for her office to take any actions necessary to ensure the county does so.

As California Secretary of State, Weber is the state’s chief election officer, tasked with overseeing the elections process statewide. She is responding in no uncertain terms to recent claims by Shasta County Board Chair Patrick Jones that AB 969 might not apply in Shasta County because the decision to hand count votes locally was made months before the bill was created.

Voting rights groups urge Shasta County elections to be monitored due to ‘misinformation’

By Jenavieve Hatch, The Sacramento Bee, October 27, 2023

Excerpt:

A nonpartisan coalition of voting rights advocates has asked the California Secretary of State’s o!ce to monitor upcoming elections in Shasta County
because of concerns about safety and the spread of misinformation.

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Shirley Weber on Tuesday, members of six voting rights groups called for an “urgent, decisive, and sustained response from
your once.”

Representatives from ACLU Northern California, the League of Women Voters, Disability Rights California, Verified Voting, California Common Cause, and the California Voter Foundation cite three reasons that Shasta County needs the state to provide extra election monitors in the November 2023 and March 2024 elections.

Voter advocates call on California Secretary of State to monitor and support Shasta County elections

By Ashley Gardner, KRCR, October 26, 2023

Excerpt:

Several nonprofit voter advocacy groups have reached out to the California Secretary of State to ask Dr. Shirley Weber to monitor and support upcoming elections in Shasta County due to recent controversies over voting equipment and ballot counting.

In a joint letter sent to California's chief elections officer on October 24, California Voter Foundation along with the ACLU of Northern California, California Common Cause, Disability Rights California, League of Women Voters of California and Verified Voting called upon Secretary Weber to take several actions in response to "grave concerns, which we believe call for urgent, decisive, and sustained response from your office."

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Breaking: Voting Rights Advocates Ask California’s Secretary of State To Monitor Shasta County’s Upcoming Elections

By Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout, October 26, 2023

Excerpt:

Six nonprofit voting rights advocacy groups have formally requested California’s Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, to provide monitoring and support for Shasta County’s upcoming elections. Among other requests, they’re asking her to deploy in-person monitoring of the local elections process both during the November 2023 and March 2024 elections.

Intervention by Weber’s office, the advocates write, could have “tremendous benefits . . . not only for the citizens of Shasta County but for all of the people who are watching these events unfold.”

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