Shasta County’s Registrar of Voters Will Retire In May Due To Health Concerns
Cathy Darling Allen has faced significant pushback from a small group of local community members over the last several years. She’s served as Shasta County’s elected County Clerk and Registrar of Voters since 2006.
2.8.2024 9:30 am: This story has been updated to correct the date of Darling Allen’s announcement.
In the nearly two decades since becoming Shasta County’s elected County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, Cathy Darling Allen has overseen forty elections.
On Friday, February 2, Darling Allen announced that she will retire from public office in May. In a personal letter to the Shasta County community, Darling Allen shared that she’s been diagnosed with a significant health issue and is committed to lowering her stress and focusing on family.
“I have been diagnosed with heart failure,” Darling Allen wrote. “An essential part of recovering from this diagnosis is stress reduction. As many election officials could probably tell you right now, that’s a tough ask to balance with election administration in the current environment. I feel strongly that my family must be my priority at this time. They have already sacrificed so much, and I must repay that investment by retiring and focusing on my health.”
It wasn’t until 2016 that Darling Allen, like many other election clerks nationwide, began experiencing significant pushback on elections policies and practices, most of which are set by state law. Those concerns have come from a small group of very vocal community members who believe widespread election fraud is occurring and hold Darling Allen partly responsible.
Supervisor Patrick Jones, who is the most visible proponent of the claim that election fraud is occurring locally, was himself successfully elected to office in a process overseen by Darling Allen. And amidst the day-to-day stresses of running an Elections Office, Darling Allen has repeatedly been asked to appear before the Shasta County Board of Supervisors to publicly respond to concerns about the election process.
As an elected official, Darling Allen does not have any obligation to report to county supervisors, who determine the size of her budget but do not have the authority to supervise her work.
The press release about Darling Allen’s pending retirement stressed that she will remain involved in the work of the Elections Office through the upcoming March 5 primary election. That election features national, state, and local races, including three county board of supervisor races, a recall vote for Supervisor Kevin Crye, and two local ballot initiatives that will allow voters to decide whether county supervisors will be held to term limits and whether Shasta will become a charter county.
The Elections Office did not explain the process for how Darling Allen’s position will be filled, saying more information about that transition will be provided ahead of her anticipated last day, May 5, 2024.
Over the last several months, Assistant County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Joanna Francescut has been the visible face of the Elections Office, appearing before the Shasta County Elections Commission and the Board of Supervisors to provide presentations and answer questions.
In addition to supervising the local elections process, the county clerk and registrar of voters also serves the public by providing marriage licenses, filing fictitious business name statements, and accepting passport applications.
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Thanks so much for this article, keeping up with the news of the area. A reversal and reset in this county is happening finally.
Yeah that reversal and reset is recalling Crye and putting sanity back where it belongs in Shasta county.
Don’t think that people aren’t noticing the mess that Crye and Jones are making.
See ya on election day!!
Cathy Darling was an excellent ROV “IF YOUR A LIBERAL / DEMOCRAT”.
I know the difference because I know how she reacted with me when I was an observer vs when I switched parties, and yes I am talking about personal experiences.
When we became suspicious of vote totals/procedures that occurred during the election Cathy Darling locked us out instead of being transparent.
When we as far as moving to hand counting ballots to secure our elections Cathy Darling went running to Gavin Newsom and Pellerin to write AB969, blocking us from being able to hand count the ballots.
Cathy Darling was asked to come report to the BOS but failed to show.
When she showed up at the following meeting she proceeded to sit there and knit, on taxpayer dollars. I/we are not paying her to knit during board meetings.
As much as I don’t like Cathy’s actions as our ROV I wish her no ill. I myself have a serious heart condition. I was supposed to have my aorta valve replaced in 2007. I worked my butt off to do everything I could for myself and in the process pulled off a medical miracle; the hole shrunk.
So while I don’t like Cathy as an ROV I would gladly share with her everything I did to help my own condition.
It’s not about hating the person, it’s about not be willing to turn a blind eye to blocking citizens from free, fair, and transparent elections.
Thank you for reading my thoughts on this.
Kim
@Kim
Oh no!! The horror!! How dare she knit when you were yelling and screaming and making your false accusations against her with absolutely no proof.
What she went through was abuse, and you were part of it Kim.
Cathy is a great ROV, and she’ll go down in history as such.
And Kim… I’m saying this as a fiscal conservative.
During the last election, my pen ran out of ink as I signed my ballot. After re-signing, the signature looked off. So I spoke with a person at the Election Office. I learned that in cases like this, the voter is sent a message and given time to correct their error. Maybe 10 days. This provision partially explains why a final count can’t be released within a day or two of the election’s end. We could reject all troubled ballots to secure a quick outcome. But that would rob those citizens. Your vote shouldn’t be denied because of an honest mistake on your ballot.
To assume and actually print that it is a small group seeking change in that office is a real big understatement! This, however, is expected from a left-leaning website is this. It never took more than 36 hours to call an election in Shasta county. Since her so-called “stress“ it takes 30 days that is all .
Good morning Jon, what I actually wrote was this: “significant pushback on elections policies and practices . . . have come from a small group of very vocal community members.” This is a statement of fact based on two and a half years of very focused observation as a local journalist. I have been at the elections office during almost every ballot counting, at nearly every board of supervisors meeting, and at nearly every Shasta County Elections Commission. I invite anyone to pull the minutes from these meetings to fact check how many people have been vocal opponents of local election policy and practice.
Can you admit that the recall is being pushed by a small group of very vocal community members also? Didn’t think so!
Nick, I hardly think more than 4,000 signatures for the recall are “just a few.” Let’s stick to facts.
Annelise, unfortunately it’s not about facts or proof with some of these people.
We have some of these people repeatedly for their “proof”, and they have never provided it and honestly I don’t think they ever will.
Cathy Darling, has been doing a great job, working quietly behind the scenes to make sure our election process is safe. I can understand completely her decision to take care of herself and spend more time with her family. However, I am thankful that she will oversee the March 5th election process.
I’m deeply concerned about the Presidential election this coming fall as I don’t trust the Maga men currently on the board of supervisors. They have made Redding the laughingstock of local governments throughout our country. I won’t feel my vote is safe until they’re gone.
I dare just one of the Maga cabal to cheer Cathy’s decision; they’ll fall prey to there own demise on March 5th. The civil and sane voters of Shasta County, Moderate Republicans, Democrats who’ve not voted in the past and the NPPs will all crush the Extreme Right candidates…especially Jones and Sloan. Two of a kind…weasels. Especially Sloan, pretending to be a Christian at Simpson and at the same time his wife has a restraining order on him for physical abuse, just look it up. When asked, he claims he didn’t take any money from Anselmo, instead he said he took money from the Water Committee…who in the H does he think supplied the money to the Water Committee? Yep, he knew…sleaze time again. Vote for an honorable candidate-Allen Long and we’ll return to a sense of what Shasta Co. once was.
Don’t forget getting rid of Pillow Guys BFF Kevin “If you can’t dazzle ’em with Brilliance, Baffle ’em with Bullshit” Crye.
No on Crye. Recall!
Thank you for all you have given to Shasta County. You are greatly appreciated!
Cathy Darling Allen is an absolute class act. She has always been the consummate professional, and a truly outstanding model of how exceptional public service should be conducted. Her farewell letter was a sad, but perfect example of that.
While she only intimated about the obvious political issue calling it “our current climate,” I have no problem calling it what it is, and that’s a ridiculous mean spirited smear campaign led by uninformed, unqualified ignoramuses who have no decency, civic morals, or capacity to accept reality. Their obsession with short sighted self-serving falsehoods, deception, and disinformation will ruin our county if good people don’t stand up and push back.
If you want to honor Cathy’s decades of impeccable service, please get informed, donate generously, and vote for sanity and integrity on March 5th.
Mark thank you for expressing this so well. I couldn’t agree more. It boggles my mind that we are losing another highly qualified, hard-working, well-informed official, pretty much due to the actions of “unqualified, uninformed ignoramuses”. It’s a sad state of affairs. I hope the March 5 election brings some positive changes to Shasta County.
Jones and Crye are responsible for her stress. Despicable behavior on their parts have affected her health. What a loss. She is the picture of integrity and service
Ms. Darling Allen, has been a pillar to our community, upholding the integrity of her office. As a public servant she has carried out her sworn duties and has followed all Code of Ethics . Our election process has never come into question as far as I have been a voter in Shasta County . Thanking you for all of your years of dedication to your office and to Shasta County YOU WILL BE MISSED..
Nanci L . DeNayer
Thank you Kathy for your years of service. Take care of yourself n spend time with your family. You have spent decades servicing Shasta County. Now it’s time to take care of yourself.