Shasta County Files Legal Action Over Proposed Ballot Measure to “Reform” Elections

A group of five local community members have submitted paperwork to the Shasta County Elections Office in hopes of amending the County’s new charter, a document that outlines specifics about how the County is governed.

The group behind the February 19 petition includes election activists Laura Hobbs, Deirdre Holliday, Kari Chilson, Richard Gallardo, and James Burnett. Their goal is to get permission from the Elections Office to circulate a petition for signatures to put the proposed measure on the fall ballot. If enough signatures are gathered, the document could provide the community an oppportunity to vote on a ballot measure that Hobbs and others say is designed to “reform” local election law. 

But Shasta County is pushing back. In a March 13 complaint filed in Shasta County Superior Court, attorney Joseph Larmour alleged that the proposed ballot measure will be used to attempt to implement actions that he believes are illegal and would violate the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the federal Help America Vote Act or HAVA.

The proposed ballot measure’s wording calls for the County to limit voting to a single day, outlaw universal mail-in ballots, and hand count all votes – all of which are illegal under state law. The document also specifies that the measure would be used to issue a new voter roll, or list of registered voters, which the County would not share with the state – an action that also appears illegal. 

In his filing, Larmour asks the Court to issue a definitive ruling on whether the County should continue to expend taxpayer funds to process and prepare a ballot measure with clear legal conflicts, arguing that taxpayer dollars should not be spent on a measure that will eventually be overridden by higher legal authorities.

Hobbs appears to be leading the push for the proposed ballot measure. She first entered the public’s eye when she ran for Shasta County Supervisor in the 2024 primary. After garnering only a small percentage of votes, Hobbs filed a lawsuit against the County alleging the actions of the Elections Office should invalidate the results in her race.

Document requests related to Hobbs’ 2024 lawsuit show the County spent more than $105,000 defending taxpayers against that suit, which was later dismissed. In a scathing statement that accompanied the June 25, 2024 ruling on Hobbs’ case, Judge Stephen Baker issued a definitive rebuke against Hobbs and her attorney, saying that evidence presented in the case was “ill-defined, vague, full of irregularities and lacking in foundation.”

In February of this year, Hobbs filed a second lawsuit against the Shasta County Elections Office, this time alleging that Shasta County’s newly-appointed Registrar of Voters, Tom Toller, had engaged in illegal election activities during the November 2024 election, including alleged “violations of public observation requirements,” “violations of federal voting system standards,” “improper ballot duplication procedures,” and “suspected security breaches.” That lawsuit is continuing to wend its way through the courts. The next status conference is scheduled for April 1 at 9 am. 

Hobbs initials appear in handwritten edits inscribed on the ballot measure paperwork submitted to the County. She has previously identified herself as President of the “Shasta Elections Task Force,” a private citizen group whose members have engaged in ongoing election observation and protests. 

A social media post shared on that group’s Facebook page late last week accused the County of filing its complaint about the proposed ballot measure as an act of “lawfare,” stating that “Larmour has to go.” The attorney was appointed to the role of County Counsel by a vote of the Shasta County Board last year.

Community members Holliday, Chilson, and Burnett are also named in the County’s complaint. They’re working with Hobbs to attempt to move the proposed ballot measure forward. All three are frequent public commenters on the topic of elections at local public meetings and have helped observe during voting and vote counting at the Elections Office. Burnett also served as a witness for Hobbs during her failed case against the County last year. 

Ballot measure proponent Gallardo is a member of a local self-described “militia” who has unsuccessfully run for several County offices. He’s been an ardent election observer for some time. In the fall of 2022, Shasta Scout filmed Gallardo pushing past security guards into a closed, privately permitted space behind the Elections Office, in efforts to reach Shasta County ballots that were arriving from the precincts.

A preliminary hearing on the County’s complaint about the proposed ballot measure will be held on March 19 at 8:30 am in Shasta County’s Superior Court. 

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