Shasta elections official says he’ll certify June primary despite demands from activists
At a recent board meeting, election activists — some of whom now work for the county elections office — alleged fraud on statewide voter rolls, demanding that Shasta’s election official not certify the vote. Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis told a reporter yesterday he’ll certify the vote unless a court order tells him otherwise.
“Ron here — wanted to just share a little bit about psychology,” began local elections activist Ronald Plumb as he stood at the dais at Tuesday’s board meeting.
“It’s harder to convince someone they’ve been deceived than it is to deceive them, and we as a people have been deceived in many, many ways,” he said.
Yesterday, Plumb was among those at the Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting claiming that noncitizens are registering at DMVs across the state to vote. Some used that claim to demand that Curtis not certify the June 2 primary.
Plumb describes himself as a senator for New California State, a separatist movement that has set up an unrecognized parallel government within the state of California — complete with its own elections, independence day and constitution.
He and his wife also helped administer the most recent election in Shasta County — as paid staff. Both are strong proponents of Shasta elections official Clint Curtis who was appointed to the position last year. The Florida-based lawyer even lived at a property owned by the couple when Curtis moved to the county to conduct his first election last fall.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, several members of the public read parts of a letter to counties sent out by New California this week, sharing claims of noncitizen DMV voter registrations and claiming that certifying the primary at the local county level would amount to a felony.
Curtis disagrees. He told a reporter yesterday that he doesn’t understand New California’s statewide alarm, saying he plans to certify the election in Shasta unless a court order tells him not to.
“In order to delay certification,” Curtis wrote, “an entity would need to provide enough evidence to the courts to get a restraining order regarding certification. That is a high bar to achieve. My guess is that New California will not be able to meet that burden and the certification will happen all across the state on July 2nd.”
‘A flood of illegal aliens’
The letter was sent to county officials across the state earlier this week by Robert Preston, the “Governor Pro Tempore” of New California.
Preston used the letter to urge registrars across the state to contest the certification of California’s June primary, calling it “common knowledge” that there has been a “flood of illegal aliens” in California, whom, he claimed, were presented the opportunity to register to vote while seeking services at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“Investigative reporters” have found that some of these noncitizens “have, in fact, voted,” Preston claimed, saying sheriffs across the state were obligated to act in response.
Doing so would risk running afoul of a new state law, passed urgently this spring to prevent the kind of ballot seizure that occurred in Riverside County in March. There, Sheriff and former California gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco began an investigation in response to claims from election activists. Curtis’ has spoken to the Riverside board about those claims. He was also the first to break the news of Bianco’s ballot seizure, something he did during a Shasta County board meeting.
Preston’s unproven claims of voter fraud in the New California letter coincide with accusations being made against California’s electoral system in recent weeks by President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Trump called on Republicans to “nationalize” the electoral process, responding to his belief that states rigged the 2020 election against him.
Just yesterday, a lawsuit by a multi-state coalition was successful in pushing back one of Trump’s attempts to regulate elections at the federal level. The executive order impacted by yesterday’s court ruling echoes some of the same sentiments shared by NCS activists, expressing fears about noncitizen voting.
After years of effort, little progress made with Shasta election activists
The Plumbs are among a small but deeply committed group of Shasta election activists who, for years prior to Curtis’ appointment, have claimed that both the state and county’s electoral processes were vulnerable to fraud.
Some have accused former elections officials of mistreatment of election observers and even the outright sabotage of local elections, allegations have not been proven despite multiple lawsuits brought against the elections office in recent years.
After Curtis’ appointment, the Plumbs were granted close proximity to the inner workings of Shasta’s election office — along with other elections activists, many of whom worked in paid roles for the June primary. Curtis said he hired the activists to alleviate their election concerns, something he’s previously claimed was successful.
But Tuesday’s board meeting made clear that activists’ direct role in handling ballots has not addressed the root causes of their skepticism — kept alive by the fear that noncitizens are voting in American elections.
Those activists have placed their hope in Measure B, a controversial citizen-led ballot initiative that passed with 56% of the vote this June. If implemented, it would disconnect Shasta’s rolls from California’s statewide database — and shield local rolls from state oversight.
But Measure B must survive a lawsuit brought forward by California’s Attorney General and Secretary of State earlier this month. And so far, Shasta County supervisors have refused to defend against that lawsuit despite the ongoing pleas of activists. Supervisors discussed the suit again Tuesday, in closed session, emerging with no reportable action.
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What we urgently need is a federal law that says non-citizens cannot vote. That’s all. It’s that simple. Everything else being said here makes no sense.
Absent a court order or absolute proof of election misbehavior, Curtis must by law certify the election. If we don’t agree with that law, we have to change it.
Wild and baseless accusations never win the day. While Curtis deservedly lost his election, he’s made the correct call on this one.
“Federal law explicitly prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, it is a federal crime for any non-U.S. citizen to vote in elections for federal office, including the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidential elections.”
“a ‘flood of illegal aliens’ in California”
Unbelievable that there are still tons of imbeciles in the United States blaming their misfortunes on illegal aliens.
These 50+ million foreigners are here whether you like it or not, and their offspring born in these lands -meaning US CITIZENS- have set deep roots in this country.
Remember, NOTHING LAST FOREVER and the America you were born in is no longer the same.
“It’s harder to convince someone they’ve been deceived than it is to deceive them, and we as a people have been deceived in many, many ways,” he (Plumb) said. Oh, the irony.
Looks like Curtis doesn’t want to end up in prison like fellow election fabulist Tina Peters. He may be dumb, but he ain’t stupid.
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Besides, Clint’s got pending lawsuits that require his attention—at least for now, until they’re tossed out for lack of merit.
“It’s harder to convince someone they’ve been deceived than it is to deceive them, and we as a people have been deceived in many, many ways,” he said.
Ron the other fanatics should take his own advice.
Did this all begin after Covid? Were broken brains a side effect?
Just because one registers to vote does not mean you are automatically added to voter rolls. Your eligibility is checked with State and Federal data bases before being deemed eligible. The goal of Measure B is to suppress voting by making it as difficult as possible. First, everyone must re-register to vote which will create hurdles especially for women who have married or divorced, perhaps more than once. Second, 94% who currently enjoy the convenience of VBM will lose that option. Third, hand counting is a proven nonstarter for any jurisdiction with more than a few thousand voters. Fourth, reconciling state and county voter roles is one way to clean up that data base which would be prohibited if Measure B is implemented. All of these supposed problems with our election systems are nothing more than a smokescreen to reach their real goal: limit voters from voting because when more people vote, they lose.
Of course, Curtis will certify, despite what all his BIG LIE election conspiracy minions say. And of course, Kelstorm let “my own side” rant on, wasting taxpayers’ time and money, as their BIG LIE nonsense is a universe outside the SCBOS jurisdiction.
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If Curtis didn’t certify, he would be sued immediately, and any continued nonsense, as demanded by the neoconferderate anti-democracy New California secessionists, would be forbidden by law and open up a criminal investigation/prosecution, possibly dragging the New CA folks into the lawsuit as petitioners.
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Sure, the Shasta County BIG LIE propagators talk trash (as they have done for the last 5 years), but I doubt they’ll call up Garlardo to arrest anyone or have Haberbush file a lawsuit, as they would lose and Shasta County could sue them for damages. Kinda wish they would, as it would be fun to watch…
This is all being fomented by Chris Street, again, the guy who was kicked/shamed out of Orange County for fraudulent action when he was a government employee. then he saw an ad for Shasta County and said to his wife, “Honey, there;s a Macy’s in Reddding, OK, load up the car and let’s go”. Keep track of this guy, who recently was awarded some $40k to seek doctors for our area, how many did he attract ? Yes, we have some doozies here in Shasta Co. Is it the water, the skyline, the expectation to meet Big Foot ? Mystery time.
This is dress rehearsal for Trumps second attempt to steal an election. Across the nation, MAGA cult groups, like the one here in Shasta County, will claim voter fraud, of course with no evidence, but then Trump will use those false claims to declare a national emergency and seize control of OUR ballots. Truth and justice are breathing down Trumps neck and he would blow up our planet if he thinks that will save him from having to face his crimes. RELEASE THE FILES!!!
The irony is the existing election systems across the country have resulted in Republicans controlling all three branches of government. The checks and balances have been largely eliminated. The only thing saving us from becoming a dictatorship is Republicans lack Supermajorities in Congress. The SAVE (Trump’s Ass) Act aim is to cement that power and potentially expand it.
If these loons hadn’t done so much damage, this would be hilarious. The party is just about over. Anselmo’s money has dried up. Smartmatic has Mr. Pillow by the short hairs and the right wing legal non-profits appear to be getting tired of coming up empty here. And they won’t be able to endlessly rant and rave at BOS meetings soon. Tick tock bozos, tick tock.
Selah
I wonder if one of the activists who was a paid worker for the election is the person who allegedly handed out ballots shortly before the election or was involved in unlocking a closet and photocopying things (giving copies to Curtis to remove from the election’s office) and re-locking the papers in another closet? I hope the state is still investigating Shasta County’s election. Once again, the BOS chose an unqualified person to be Registrar of Voters and, guess what? Curtis couldn’t find fraud, either!!!
Let me see if I’ve got this right. I am an undocumented alien. The government is conducting a mass deportation pogrom. Accordingly, the last thing on earth that I want to do is draw attention to myself. So, I none-the-less walk into the DMV, give them my name and address, and demand to be registered to vote. Maybe if I get drunk this will all make sense.
“Maybe if I get drunk this will all make sense.”
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Nope! They have a special type of crazy that goes beyond being drunk.
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Shasta Scout, hope you print this because I’m not trying to be overly offensive, but I am also not being too gentle with my words.
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I rebuke thee, election deniers!
Absolutely fascinating to watch as this whole thing crumbles around the election deniers.
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Ron & Patty Plum both worked for the “new improved, more efficient & transparent elections” method, and apparently there was still fraud that was going on right under their nose!!
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They had all these people who were supposed to prevent fraud, but somehow it still happened on their watch.
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And yet still not a single shred of evidence to be found…In fact all evidence points to the contrary: there was NO mass election fraud in Shasta county.
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Anyway, just going to grab some popcorn and watch as they turn on each other.
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Absolutely fascinating to watch it crumble before me very own eyes…
Also of note paid election worker Patty Plumb “disappeared” out of the election office the day after the elections. Hmmm … apparently she and a coworker got into some name calling. Maybe her religious faith told her she was over the line. Also the assistant ROV Brent Turner was nowhere to be found on premise either during election time even for the notorious ball drop days later. Curtis gave us a minimal ball drop demo this time. 🤡 Must be nice for Plumb and Turner to get paid as no show county employees….
Certifying elections is his job. It’s literally in his job description. I don’t understand why is everything with that office a conspiracy or fraud. I’m exhausted by the whole of it
Delusions upon delusions upon more delusions. None of these allegations have been proven, despite repeated tries in court. And likely never will. Get a life, people!
It is so funny that the election deniers were actually in charge for this, and the previous special election, and still (because they didn’t get the results that dreamed of) complain about the process.
Wow, the fraud it apparently so prevalent that even the “activists” couldn’t stop it! These immigrants must have used their wizard powers to mind control the Plumbs and Hobbs of the world to not see the fraud until after the results were in. There’s absolutely no way that their preferred candidates were simply unpopular with voters.
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First chemtrails, and now we’re being invaded by illegal immigrant wizards???
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/s
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But it really must suck for them to live in an election deniers world. Imagine looking over your shoulder all the time because everyone is out to get you.
There really are a lot of illegal immigrants in California. Preston’s letter offers no other evidence that they any of them voted. Surely he could have found one! And he shows no knowledge whatsoever of how the DMV licensing process and the voter registration work, but who am I to contradict the Governor of New California?
The skulls just get number and number around here.
Credit to Clint Curtis for take.
There really are a lot of illegal immigrants in California. Preston’s letter offers no other evidence that they any of them voted. Surely he could have found one! And he shows no knowledge whatsoever of how the DMV licensing process and the voter registration work, but who am I to contradict the Governor of New California?
The skulls just get number and number around here.
Sorry for the double post. Feel free to delete the clutter!
But seriously, credit to Clint Curtis for having the baseline of good sense to ignore his allies’ weird legal advice.
As most people know, it’s a choice to register to vote at the DMV and they check immigration status. Would someone please use their cargo van to drop off about 20 immigrant actors in front of Patrick Jones’ gun shop ? He hasn’t had any excitement lately.