The California Delegation of the U.S. Senate has expressed dismay about Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis saying he wants to hire an election denier made famous for her felony convictions. Both of the state’s U.S. Senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, are urging California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to closely scrutinize the plan to hire Tina Peters. She was in charge of elections in Mesa County, Colorado until she allowed an outside computer tech to copy the county’s voter data and share it with Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow” Guy. Peters was convicted of 7 felony counts and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Her sentence was commuted by the Governor of Colorado after President Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the state. A letter signed by both Senators says they feel the hiring decision has less to do with Ms. Peters’ qualifications and more to do with the President’s obsession with interfering in the midterm elections. Curtis has said he wants Peters to help assure that federal agencies can test ballots for authenticity, but the Senators point out that federal authorities have no jurisdiction over the county’s electoral process. Meanwhile, apparently no request has been made for a budget amendment for the hiring of Peters, and current Assistant Registrar Brent Turner has made no indication that he’s going anywhere. Curtis was censured by the Board of Supervisors last week but his term does not end until the first of next year.
-Steve Gibson