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Pro-democracy groups plan to monitor Shasta County election

Excerpt:

Election Hero Day and tomorrow, "good government" groups will be monitoring the local election in rural Shasta County, to support election workers there and make sure the laws are followed.

Recently, members of the Board of Supervisors said they wanted a hand count on election night, even though state law requires the first count to be done using optical scanners.

Registrar of voters: Secretary of State reps could be in Shasta County for election

Excerpt:

Shasta County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen anticipates officials from the California Secretary of State’s Office to be in Redding for the upcoming special election.

Darling Allen told the Record Searchlight in an email that she believes "we will have observers here from the (Secretary of State) next week.”

The Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately reply to an email that asked if its representatives planned to be in Shasta County for the election and if so, in what capacity.

Shasta County ditched its Dominion voting machines. Now, residents are braced for turmoil on Nov. 7

Excerpt:

In many elections, the suspense comes from wondering which candidate is going to win.

In Shasta County, the question everyone is hanging on is: Will the local election next Tuesday bring unrest or even violence? 

The county of about 200,000 people on the northern rim of the Central Valley made national news last spring when a far-right majority on the Board of Supervisors, swept up in unproven voter fraud claims, decided to dump Dominion voting machines and hand-count its ballots instead.

Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors Meeting More Akin to Political Theater Than Civilized Government

Excerpt:

Like a mongrel cross of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa “The Barber of Seville,” Patrick Henry Jones led his merry troupe of political players — better known as the Shasta County Board of Supervisors — on an 8-hour romp through a repertoire of old favorites cleverly coupled with some new agenda items to keep audience members guessing whether “The Gunsmith of Shasta” might be a hit or a miss.

Shasta supervisors talk pay raises, Hart voting machines: What happened at Tuesday meeting

Except:

Jones got into it with county Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen over the contract with the Hart voting machines.

Jones alleged supervisors were misled by Darling Allen, claiming that they did not know the machines can also electronically tabulate ballots when they OK'd the contract.

Jones led the charge to develop a hand-count system in Shasta County after he, Crye and Kelstrom voted to terminate the county’s former contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

Shasta County responds to letter from the Secretary of State

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The state said it will monitor Shasta County ahead of the November 7th special election. 

Shasta County Board of Supervisors Chairman Patrick Jones said he expected a letter like this, but Shasta County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen said this letter is special. 

The Secretary of State Shirley Weber sent the letter to the Board of Supervisors and Registrar of Voters on October 27th.

“My Office Stands Ready To Take Any Actions Necessary”: California Secretary of State Warns That Shasta Elections Must Comply with New State Law

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California’s Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, has responded to a letter sent last week by a group of nonprofit, nonpartisan voting rights advocates by issuing a stern warning to Shasta County officials. Comply with new state law AB 969, which forbids hand counting in jurisdictions with more than 1,000 registered voters, Weber wrote, or be ready for her office to take any actions necessary to ensure the county does so.

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