After chaotic last month, some concerns as Shasta elections official opens early voting

Today, Shasta Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis confirmed that ballots are being mailed out by the printer, Runbeck Election Services.

There are no concerns or delays so far with the election process from his perspective, Curtis said. But observation at the election office indicates that some steps remain to be completed, including pre-election testing of tabulation machines. 

Curtis has spent the last months engaged in activities that he hopes will draw federal attention to Shasta’s election process. In August he announced that he might hire former election official Tina Peters, who’s been convicted of felony election crimes. Last month, he spoke with FBI investigators before receiving a subpoena from the federal government. Most recently, he’s repeatedly delayed the routine shredding of 2024 ballots past state-mandated deadlines, finally overseeing their destruction over the weekend.

Upstairs at the elections office today, a staffer broke down boxes that held the 2024 ballots that were shredded yesterday, as an activist took pictures of the markings on each box. Curtis spoke to a reporter nearby, saying the drama of the last month, including the protest over shredding this weekend, hasn’t impacted preparedness for the November election. 

“We’re early,” Curtis claimed. “We like to be ahead of the game.”

But a quick tour of the elections office indicated several concerns, including Curtis’ failure to set up all three accessible voting machines prior to the opening of the polls. At least some of those machines were still being set up when a reporter arrived at the elections office to observe around 9 a.m. an hour after the polling place opened.

“No one ever uses them,” Curtis said, in response to questions.

Standard voting machine testing that’s required by law to occur seven days before the election had also just begun this morning and was still in process as of this afternoon. That includes what’s known as the test deck, which is used to ensure that tabulation machines are set up to count the votes on ballots correctly and has not yet been tested.

The Secretary of State’s office said this evening that the state has not yet received Shasta’s Logic and Accuracy Testing form, noting a memo from Secretary of State Shirley Weber that provides a copy of the form and specifies when it’s due.

Since logic and accuracy testing is an observable activity under state law, Shasta was also required to post notices about the dates of the testing process both in person and online. The in-person notice posted at the Market Street office today indicated that testing would begin next week on Oct. 9 while the online version said it had begun on Oct. 2. Both were wrong, elections staffer David Wylie noted today in response to questions, asking Shasta Scout not to be too hard on staff.

“We’ve got a lot going on,” Wylie said. “We’re just trying to pull it together and do our best.”

As of 9 a.m. the office had seen only one voter, the same individual that has arrived first to vote every year for decades.

“He is dedicated to being the first guy in the door,” Curtis said, noting that the community member had arrived at 7:30 with family members. “And he is nice.”

Voting will continue through November 3, when other polling places will open across the county. Community members can also vote by mail or drop their vote-by-mail ballot in any of the county’s four drop boxes through 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

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Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.: We have updated the story to include comment from the state.

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