“This Is About Restoring Trust”: Supervisors Vote To End Shasta County’s Use of Dominion Voting Machines 

On Tuesday, Shasta County Supervisor Patrick Jones told County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen that the majority of Shasta County residents lack faith in electronic voting machines and it’s her job to restore the public’s trust.

“So how are you going to do it?” Jones challenged her repeatedly.

Darling Allen answered with a series of fiery comments that questioned Jones’ perceptions of the views of Shasta County voters and rebuked him for his role in destroying the public’s trust in elections.

Telling Supervisors that California has the most stringent and rigorous testing systems for electronic voting in the nation, Darling Allen also told Jones she worries that Supervisors are not really hearing all community voices on the topic of voting machines and trust in elections.

Jones responded by subtly questioning her mental stability. 

“I’m not sure what voices you’re hearing, Cathy, to be honest,” he said. 

His comment drew a call for respect from fellow Supervisor Mary Rickert but didn’t appear to surprise Darling Allen, who said in response that no one from the Board had even reached out to her about the Dominion Voting Systems agenda item despite the fact that her department administers the vote.

“Unfortunately Supervisor Jones you’ve decided that I’m not someone that you trust,” Darling Allen said. “But 68% of the people who showed up to vote (for me in the 2022 Primary Elections) in June, do.”

Over recent years, concerns about voter fraud have spread nationwide, largely in connection with former President Donald Trump’s failed bid for a second term in office in 2020. Numerous audits, investigations and court cases have debunked these claims which, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, have led to widespread national mistrust in the election process and inspired a wave of new laws that have endangered voting access for some Americans, especially new citizens and new voters.

On Tuesday, multiple public speakers emphasized that they want to see the county use a fully paper ballot system administered by trusted locals in order to ensure a free and fair election. Those speakers included militia member Richard Gallardo, self-described citizen journalist and therapist Lori Bridgeford, and Ron and Patty Plumb, who have previously identified themselves as part of the New California State Assembly.

Bob Holsinger, who lost his campaign for Darling Allen’s position as County Clerk and Registrar of Voters during the June 2022 primary, also spoke. Holsinger said publicly during his campaign that he is not aware of any legitimate issues with Dominion voting machines but still supports getting rid of them because so many in the County don’t trust them. For the last five years, Holsinger has managed the local work of the California Election Integrity Project (EIPCa), a registered California nonprofit that calls itself nonpartisan. Among other materials, the EIPCa distributes a white paper indicating that California intends to destroy free and fair elections. The heading of the paper includes a quote from Joseph Stalin.

Supervisors eventually voted three to two to cancel the County’s eight-year contract with Dominion. Supervisors Tim Garman and Rickert opposed the decision. Kevin Crye wavered, repeatedly mentioning concerns about fiscal responsibility and suggesting deferring action, but eventually sided with Jones and Kelstrom.

Jones had asked for the contract to be terminated immediately, but after a strong word of warning from County Counsel Rubin Cruse, Jr., Supervisors decided to keep the contract in effect until after the completion of a special election in the City of Shasta Lake. That election is scheduled for March 7. 

Cruse’s caution to the Supervisors is based on a federal law known as the Help America Vote Act, which requires the County to find a way to privately and securely count the votes of disabled individuals within the County, a process which typically requires voting by machine, he said.

“The Help America Vote Act was passed in 2002,” Darling Allen explained to Shasta Scout after the meeting, “as a federal reaction to what happened in Florida with Bush and Gore and the chads and the punch cards. Included in that legislation is that every voter regardless of physical ability be able to vote privately and independently. The only way we get there is with technology. So all of this talk about hand counting or not . . . is not a legal possibility.” 

In a response to a question from Kelstrom, Cruse stated that there should be no financial penalty for early termination of the County’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems. But both Cruse and Acting County CEO Patrick Minturn told Supervisors that canceling the contract with Dominion will still likely cost the County at least $1 million to acquire new voting machines and associated training. Supervisors did not discuss how they would fund those costs. 

The Supervisors’ decision to discuss the county’s contract with Dominion was surprising to some public speakers who pointed out that Board members themselves had been elected with a process that included Dominion voting machines.

Kelstrom and Crye specifically acknowledged that fact, but said it doesn’t change their concerns, and Jones and Garman indicated that they particularly worry not about county elections but the nationwide election process. 

“Whether fraud has happened here in Shasta County or not is not the point,” Jones said, explaining later that “outside interference comes from afar, most likely not from the local audience.”

The issue was brought to the Supervisors’ agenda by Jones, who introduced the topic by explaining that he had been researching Dominion voting machines for quite some time and has noticed that the “mainstream media” discredits any “election experts” who say there’s cause for loss of trust in the elections process. 

Jones said the sheer number of election votes collected across America indicate there must be some issues which affect fair elections. And without “audits” of every part of the voting process, Jones said he’s lost trust in Dominion’s work. 

“So,” Jones continued, “For me, for this contract, Dominion has to prove to me that we have a free and fair election. Dominion has to prove that to me if I’m going to support this contract.”

Asked by Supervisor Crye how much such an audit process might cost, Darling Allen said she couldn’t comment on cost because the kinds of audits being called for aren’t legal so she hasn’t spent any time on cost analysis. 

“The so-called forensic audit,” Darling Allen emphasized, “is not lawful.”

Asked by Jones how she would work to restore trust in elections, Darling Allen indicated that restoring trust starts with the Supervisors themselves. 

“The tone and tenor of this conversation,” she said, “is further destroying trust.”

Darling Allen said she and her staff will work with the County’s procurement department to begin assessing which new voting machines to buy. California’s Secretary of State certified only three voting machine systems, Dominion, Hart, and ES&S. But the decision to cancel the contract with Dominion prior to deciding on a new voting machine vendor puts the County in a difficult position if there is a recall or other special election, she said.

She says she’s also concerned about the next presidential election. “People think that’s two years away, but candidate filing begins in just over nine months . . . this is a freight train coming down, we can see the lights already on that train.”

The Shasta County Elections Department was just selected to be included as part of the national, non-partisan Alliance for Elections Excellence, a project by the Center for Tech and Civic Life which brings together election officials, designers, technologists, and other experts to help local election departments improve operations and develop a set of shared standards and values. 

A press release issued on January 23 indicates that Shasta County was selected for the project because of the “high standard of work performed and the care and focus demonstrated by providing voters with access to their government through casting a ballot that they can feel confident is counted the way it was cast.”

“We are confident,” the press release reads, “that this work will be one more tool in our toolbox to engender trust locally, and, perhaps, to be a laboratory for other jurisdictions to adopt practices with which we have had success.”

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