Patrick Jones is again trying to force the retention of ballots that lawfully need to be destroyed. In September of 2022 the Board of Supervisors requested, and budgeted for, the retention of ballots from 2020 in an apparent last ditch effort to help save the election for Donald Trump, even though he won in Shasta County anyway. County Counsel Rubin Cruse researched state law and found that election materials must be destroyed 22 months after an election by the registrar of voters. It’s not an option; it’s a requirement. Still the board persisted in asking County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling-Allen to delay the destroying of the ballots, as requested by Supervisors Jones, Baugh and Garmin. It’s now been 22 months since the Primary Election of June 2022. That ballot included a slate of candidates pushed by Jones and others that lost races for District Attorney, Sheriff, Registrar, and Schools Chief. A item on the agenda for Tuesday’s supervisors meeting is for the retention of those ballots. The trouble is, the 22 month deadline was Sunday, so the ballots have presumably already been destroyed.
-Steve Gibson