Several big voting rights advocacy organizations have requested that the California Secretary of State monitor and oversee upcoming elections in Shasta County, including one in a week and a half. The coalition of groups sent a formal request to Sacramento, saying that a “torrent of misinformation and disinformation at board of supervisors meetings threaten the electorate’s ability to discern the truth”. Board Chair Patrick Jones has been saying the county will defy a recently passed state law that bans manual tallies for elections with more than a Thousand ballots. Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling-Allen says the county will follow the law. The upcoming special election for a Gateway School Board position and the Shasta Fire Protection District will be decided by as many as 9,500 voters.
Meanwhile, a citizens advisory committee tasked with overseeing and reviewing elections processes has held two meetings but have done little but learn how little they can really do. They can’t review individual ballots or petition signatures or anything else that jeopardizes the constitutional guarantee of a secret ballot. Supervisors have each appointed a member to the 5 person committee.