How many ballots are left to count in Shasta, and where do voting results stand? Here’s what we know

In the late morning after the June 2 primary election, staffers were hustling at the Shasta County elections office to sort ballots to be processed. A group of older women — most wearing comfy clothes or pajamas — worked as they chatted with one another. 

By 3 p.m. on June 3, nearly 23,000 ballots had been counted, a number that represents only about 20% of registered voters. At a similar point in the November 2025 election, over 12,000 more votes had been counted than have so far this election. And three years before that, in November 2022, about triple the number of people voted in total, as compared to this election’s current ballot numbers. 

Today, Election Manager Anna Rodriguez said that she had “no idea” how many ballots are left to count, adding that the elections office likely won’t have an update until later tonight or tomorrow.

Rodriguez said a report about ballot totals will most likely be released tomorrow. Final election results will take longer to be announced. 

The speed of vote counting is a particular concern for this election. Usually, per state law, elections officials have 30 days after the election to count ballots, finalize official results and conduct a required post-election audit. Since Shasta’s primary election also included a special election to fill late Congressman Doug LaMalfa’s seat, the votes for that race need to be certified by June 11, Rodriguez said. 

She said she was unsure if there would be two certification processes for this election — one for the special election and one for the primary — and deferred to Shasta Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis for that information. He did not immediately respond to reporter questions. 

Ballot sorting, one step in ballot processing, contributes to the time-intensive process of reaching vote totals. Rodriguez said this morning that vote-by-mail ballots dropped off to polling places yesterday still need to be sorted to determine if there are any surrendered or spoiled ballots that need to be pulled out before processing.

While the arduous process of sorting ballots is not a unique challenge of this election cycle, the presence of “poll closers” has been. The new role, implemented by Curtis in an effort to expedite ballot processing, tasks poll workers with beginning the sorting process at precincts before ballots are delivered to the election office for processing.

The change was layered on top of other reforms led by Curtis, and the multiple overhauls to polling places’ previous systems seemed to slow the release of vote totals last night. Onsite reporting at polling places documented that several poll closer teams weren’t finished closing until an hour and a half to two hours after polls initially closed. 

While the goal was for poll closers to relieve poll workers from certain responsibilities, Assistant ROV Brent Turner acknowledged today that the extra “moving parts” alongside training issues may have slowed down the sorting process, a cost he’s willing to absorb.

“Even if it did take a little bit longer in my mind, if it creates efficiency and or security, then it’s worth another 15 minutes in the chain,” Turner said.

While it’s unclear whether or not the incorporation of poll closers actually improved efficiency, one thing is certain: A power outage did not help. 

At midnight on the night of the election, a power strip on the wall of the election office turned off, leaving voting systems still running but disabling cameras and WiFi. The power strip has a timer boxed to it that automatically shuts down at midnight every night, which also posed a problem in last November’s election cycle, according to Election Manager Rodriguez. Facilities workers brought in prior to Election Day were unable to resolve the problem in time for yesterday’s election, she said.

According to Turner, the outage was responsible for a 90-minute delay that put Shasta behind every other California county when it came to initial precinct releases. The final election update for the evening was released around 3:30 a.m., although the issue was resolved much earlier.

Turner added that while the public tends to “crave the quick result,” he believes “accuracy and appropriateness” are more important than speed. “I’m looking for transparency rather than quickness,” he said. “I think we’ve delivered both in this circumstance.”

What do the results currently show?

No new results have been released since around 3:30 a.m. on June 3. Those results show former Shasta Assistant ROV Joanna Francescut leading in the race for county clerk and registrar of voters, with about 56% of the vote. Current ROV Curtis, who’s administering this election, has almost 44% of the vote. 

For the Shasta District 1 supervisor race, Redding City Council member Erin Resner is currently leading by about 54%. Trailing her lead is current Supervisor Kevin Crye, with about 39% of the vote. Commercial driver and election activist Richard Gallardo has the remaining 7% of the vote. 

The race for District 5 supervisor is more narrow than the others: Anderson City Council member Mike Gallagher is leading with nearly 49% of the vote, with current Supervisor Chris Kelstrom trailing at just over 41%. Retired registered nurse Gary Oxley has only 10% of the vote. 

For each of these races, candidates have to receive 50% of the vote plus one vote to win in the primary. If no candidate receives at least that much of the vote, the race will go to a run-off this fall. 

Voters so far seem to be in favor of Measure B, with almost 56% voting “Yes” and about 44% voting “No.” If passed, the measure would significantly change Shasta’s local election process.

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