Shasta Elections Commission Under Fire

On Tuesday, March 12, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors briefly reviewed two recommendations sent by the Elections Commission. One related to hand counting ballots and the other to ballot drop boxes. Supervisors did not take a vote on whether to approve the recommendations.

Instead, the board voted on a motion by Supervisor Tim Garman to consider disbanding the Election Commission altogether. His concerns about the Commission focused on a radio ad voiced by a Shasta Elections Commissioner, as well as more general concerns that the Commission’s overall approach to election accountability is a waste of the county’s time and money.

The vote failed, with only Garman and Supervisor Mary Rickert supporting it.

Since October 2023, the Election Commission has held nine meetings and formed a number of ad hoc committees to study topics including the recall of Supervisor Kevin Crye, complaints about election data made by candidate for supervisor Laura Hobbs, and complaints about public records requests made by a local militia member Richard Gallardo. Three more ad hoc committees have been formed to review archival election data, the voter rolls, and ballot drop boxes.

While public comments occur at every meeting, no formal documentation of election concerns is being collected by the Commission as a whole. Similarly, ad hoc committee updates, which often include verbal reports of alleged local election misconduct usually made by Commissioner Bev Gray, are not accompanied by any formal submission of documentation.

On Tuesday, as supervisors reviewed the Commission’s recommendations on hand counting and ballot boxes, Elections Commission Chair Ronnean Lund spoke from the podium, attempting to refute statements by public commenters that the Commission is breaking its own bylaws by submitting a recommendation that goes against state law.

The Commission’s recommendation on hand counting says that there “should be a local ordinance mandating that Shasta County conduct their elections using hand counting of ballots at the precincts with paper poll books.” California Assembly Bill 969, which was signed into law in October 2023, made such a hand-counting process illegal.

Lund said the Commission “does not condone or encourage the board to break any laws and our recommendations did not suggest that the board break any laws. The suggestions do include . . . recommendations that the board might have to pursue, you know, looking into codes or ordinances . . . “

It’s a confusing statement given the wording of the hand counting recommendation itself, which directly recommends the board enact an ordinance in contradiction to state law. But comments made by Commissioner Lisa Michaud during the Elections Commission meeting the day before, on March 11, add some clarity to the meaning of Lund’s statements. 

Michaud told the public that the recommendation on hand counting was not an attempt to encourage the board to “defy” state law, but instead to “challenge” it by prompting legal action. It’s an idea that was not presented during the Commission’s initial vote on the recommendation to hand count ballots.

Asked why the commission didn’t just recommend that the board file a lawsuit against the state if legal action was the intent, Michaud told Shasta Scout that as a layperson, she believes that putting in place a local law that contradicts state law is the only real path to prompting such legal action.

When AB 969 was passed, Supervisor Patrick Jones said the Board would file a lawsuit to oppose it, but that suit has not yet materialized.

The Board has funded the Commission with about $55,000 this fiscal year to fulfill its stated purpose of advising and making recommendations to the board on “all elections-related activities in Shasta County.” Most of those funds are intended for legal counsel.

During the Commission’s review of the recommendation on hand counting and ballot boxes, Acting County Counsel Alan Cox declined to opine, saying the issue would receive legal review before going to the board. It did not. That concerned Supervisor Rickert, who said receiving a presentation on passing an election law without a review from legal counsel seemed like a waste of both the board’s and the public’s time. Commission Chair Lund did not respond to Rickert’s concern about legal review.

During board discussion, Rickert also expressed concern about a “lack of coordination” between the Commission and the Shasta County Elections Office which is tasked, by law, with running the election process. Commission Chair Lund pushed back on the idea that there was any kind of antagonistic relationship between the Commission and the Elections Office, although she confirmed that Joanna Francescut, who’s running the Elections Office, was not consulted on the Commission’s recommendation to hand count.

On Tuesday evening, March 12, Elections Commissioner Dawn Duckett, who had previously voted against the Commission’s recommendation to hand count, used a Facebook post to announce her resignation from the Commission, effective immediately.

Calling the Commission “counterproductive to the needs of the community,” Duckett, who was appointed to her position by Supervisor Garman, said continuing to serve as a Commissioner would not be a valuable use of her time. Duckett wrote that while the original intent of the Commission was to build trust in the elections process, she feels the Commission has instead “caused a great deal of confusion and created additional distrust in our community.”

“It is for these reasons,” Duckett wrote, “that I feel strongly that the Commission is a waste of county resources and should be disbanded and abolished immediately.”

Have questions, concerns, or comments you’d like to share with us directly? Reach out: editor@shastascout.org.