Curtis says he won’t appear in federal court tomorrow to testify

Shasta County elections official Clint Curtis said this afternoon that he is no longer going to federal court tomorrow in response to a subpoena he received nearly two weeks ago. 

For the last couple of months, Curtis has made claims that some ballots from the June 2026 primary election — which he ran and lost — are “suspect,” alleging they contain irregular ballot markings and abnormal paper textures. On Sept. 10, he received a subpoena instructing him to testify before a federal grand jury and bring with him tens of thousands of voted ballots from the June election to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento. 

His court date was tomorrow. This morning he told Shasta Scout that while FBI agents had already come to Shasta to look at the ballots, he was still going to court to make sure he didn’t violate his subpoena. 

“I’m not going to bring all the garbage with me,” he said, referring to the voted ballots currently locked in a room at the elections office. “But I will drive there to appear so I can, you know, at least be in compliance somewhat.”

However, around 3:45 p.m. today, he texted a reporter that he had confirmed he no longer has to go to Sacramento tomorrow. When asked who told him he didn’t have to go to court, he didn’t respond. 

Curtis said earlier today his confusion about whether he needed to appear in court began during the FBI’s visit last week. He explained that he asked an agent whether he still needed to go to court since the FBI was already taking a look at the ballots. One agent replied that they couldn’t comment since it was an active investigation but said that “this should be enough,” according to Curtis. To get clarification, Curtis said after the FBI left he contacted the federal court, the Department of Justice and an FBI agent. 

The FBI declined to confirm its presence at the elections office. 

Curtis explained that there were about a dozen officials present when the FBI inspected the ballots last week, but he said he couldn’t share which agencies they were from. The California Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about whether an official was present during the FBI’s inspection to ensure voters’ ballots were safeguarded. 

It’s unclear whether Curtis was subpoenaed because of concerns about the ballots themselves or about his management of the ballots and election processes. He told Shasta Scout in an interview for a previous story that he was happy about the subpoena, saying this was the result he had hoped for to look into ballots he believes could be counterfeit.

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