Shasta elections official says Tina Peters won’t be working in Shasta

Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has ended talks of Tina Peters coming to work at the elections office, saying it’s become clear she doesn’t have time. 

Peters is a former Colorado elections official who served time in prison for election-related crimes. Curtis announced his hopes to hire her on a radio show last month, which was met with national media attention, though it was always unlikely she’d be able to work in Shasta given her criminal record and the terms of her parole.

Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, forwarded a statement from Peters this morning, where she clarified that she has not accepted a position with the Shasta elections office — leaving ambiguous whether she was ever offered a job at all.

“There have been discussions about ways I might assist with election integrity and ballot-authenticity efforts,” she wrote, “but no formal role has been accepted.

“This has never been about just one county,” she continued. “My concern is for all 3,144 counties in America and whether every citizen can trust that our elections are free, fair, and transparent.” 

Curtis made a more definitive assertion in a statement this morning, saying Peters won’t be coming to Shasta because “She is very busy with election integrity across the country and in DC.” 

“I need someone that could be present at the office,” he said. “She just doesn’t have the time.” 

That’s likely good news for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who denounced Curtis’ hopes to hire Peters on Facebook yesterday, calling the “job offer” a disgrace. 

In Peters’ statement, she said one of her primary concerns is alleged foreign interference in elections, a sentiment that matches Curtis’ statements of concerns about the possibility that fraudulent ballots were submitted in the June primary election.

He’s locked those ballots in a room in the elections office and expressed hope that they would be investigated by local or federal agencies. He confirmed today that hasn’t happened yet, adding that the Trump administration recently announced its plan to investigate alleged election fraud in California and several other states. 

Curtis’ announcement that he might hire Peters, combined with his claims about alleged ballot fraud over the past several weeks, have stirred up controversy among Shasta’s residents and public officials, and they’ve been drawing attention to Shasta throughout the country. 

They’re an added layer to the election-related issues already facing the county, including a lawsuit by the state over Measure B, which was passed by voters in June and would make sweeping changes to Shasta’s elections. That measure is currently suspended by court order, meaning elections in Shasta are slated to run as normal this fall. 

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