California is set to vote on a high-stakes redistricting proposal in November, a decision that has raised concerns over the integrity of the electoral process. At the helm of the Shasta county elections office, where Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one, is Clint Curtis, an election skeptic who has never before administered an election and doesn't live in the rural northern California region. Despite his lack of experience, Curtis was appointed by the ultra-conservative majority on Shasta's board of supervisors to "fix" the voting process.
Curtis had previously worked with far-right figures, including Mike Lindell, a billionaire who has promoted misinformation about the integrity of voting machines. He had long argued that elections were not secure and that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. His appointment has raised concerns over his intentions and qualifications for the role.
Under Curtis's leadership, Shasta county has made significant changes to its elections process. The office now uses additional cameras to capture ballot processing and has reduced the number of drop boxes available to voters. He has also hired a team of local activists who have campaigned against the elections office and its staff in the past. Some of these activists have been involved in lawsuits that have accused election officials of voter suppression and other forms of misconduct.
Critics argue that Curtis's changes have made them distrust an election system they once felt confident in. They are alarmed by a statement from the California secretary of state's office, which said Curtis had not worked with the department on his plans for the election as he had claimed. The county's board of supervisors has threatened to censure him if he continues to exclude certain local media outlets from receiving press releases.
Resident Dawn Duckett, who previously served on a county elections commission, expressed her concerns about the changes made by Curtis. "How is this going to increase trust in the community?" she asked. "You [had] this vocal minority of people that [had] concerns. Now you've got everybody else now concerned about elections. The whole county is in a state of chaos and turmoil."
The saga in Shasta county stands apart from other places, according to experts, who describe Curtis as one of the most clearly unqualified elections officials in the country. His comments on logic and accuracy testing have also raised concerns over his understanding of election security.
Despite these concerns, some election officials and activists are rooting for Curtis to succeed. Francescut, who was fired by Curtis, is running for office with the endorsement of other elections officials and her predecessor Toller.
Curtis had previously worked with far-right figures, including Mike Lindell, a billionaire who has promoted misinformation about the integrity of voting machines. He had long argued that elections were not secure and that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election. His appointment has raised concerns over his intentions and qualifications for the role.
Under Curtis's leadership, Shasta county has made significant changes to its elections process. The office now uses additional cameras to capture ballot processing and has reduced the number of drop boxes available to voters. He has also hired a team of local activists who have campaigned against the elections office and its staff in the past. Some of these activists have been involved in lawsuits that have accused election officials of voter suppression and other forms of misconduct.
Critics argue that Curtis's changes have made them distrust an election system they once felt confident in. They are alarmed by a statement from the California secretary of state's office, which said Curtis had not worked with the department on his plans for the election as he had claimed. The county's board of supervisors has threatened to censure him if he continues to exclude certain local media outlets from receiving press releases.
Resident Dawn Duckett, who previously served on a county elections commission, expressed her concerns about the changes made by Curtis. "How is this going to increase trust in the community?" she asked. "You [had] this vocal minority of people that [had] concerns. Now you've got everybody else now concerned about elections. The whole county is in a state of chaos and turmoil."
The saga in Shasta county stands apart from other places, according to experts, who describe Curtis as one of the most clearly unqualified elections officials in the country. His comments on logic and accuracy testing have also raised concerns over his understanding of election security.
Despite these concerns, some election officials and activists are rooting for Curtis to succeed. Francescut, who was fired by Curtis, is running for office with the endorsement of other elections officials and her predecessor Toller.
this guy clint curtis is literally making me question everything 
i mean what if he's trying to rig the system from within? it's like, one thing i can get on board with is wanting to make sure elections are secure, but this way of doing it feels so...off 
it's just too much for me. i need more transparency and accountability in our election process, not less 
it's like, we should be building trust in our system, not tearing it down 
and it's not just the changes themselves, it's who's making them and why... like Clint Curtis doesn't seem like a super qualified guy for the job at all 
and I'm worried that he's gonna mess up the whole thing and make people even more skeptical about voting in general 
oh man, I just can't even ... like, first off, this Clint guy sounds super shady 
. I mean, he's got no experience with elections and has worked with some pretty sketchy folks in the past, but the California secretary of state's office is calling BS on his claims about working with them 
. And now he's making changes to the voting process that are basically designed to make people distrust the system? Like, what even is the point of that? 
. I mean, I get it, people have concerns about election security and all, but do we really need someone like Curtis making things worse? 
. Can't we just have a fair and transparent elections process without all the shenanigans? 
. They're sayin' all these conspiracy theories and whatnot about election security, but it's just a bunch of noise 
. Those extra cameras are probably gonna make the whole process more transparent. And hey, if folks wanna get involved, that's cool too 
. It's not like Curtis is tryin' to rig the system or nothin'. The drama around it all is just a bit much, you know? 
i mean clint curtis getting appointed to head up the elections office despite having no experience and ties to far-right figures? it's a recipe for disaster. he's already made some questionable changes like reducing the number of drop boxes, which will only make voting harder for people who can't get to polling stations easily. 
. #ElectionIntegrityMatters #VoterSuppressionIsReal #ShastaCountyScandal