The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 2, 2025
Almost five years after the election, impacts of debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Donald Trump and his allies still reverberate. We’re back in Shasta County, California, where once again, supervisors have stoked an election-denier dumpster fire.
We last covered Shasta County when its county supervisors chose to drop electronic ballot tabulators and instead hand count ballots for the 2024 presidential election, against the recommendations of county election officials. With over 111,000 registered voters, it would have taken days, not hours, to count the ballots. The State of California forced the county to follow state standards and use tabulators, which are faster, cheaper and more accurate than hand counting.
Recently, some of those same supervisors appointed an interim Registrar of Voters with no experience, Clint Curtis. Curtis, after two weeks on the job, fired assistant registrar Joanna Francescut, with 17 years of experience in running elections.
The Shasta Scout reports that Curtis recently said he needed to train the staff to run an election “the right way,” despite statements that he is suspicious of optical ballot readers, wants to reduce the number of state mandated ballot drop boxes, and wants ballots printed locally, not by a specialized ballot printer.
Curtis has announced plans to run for the permanent registrar position in June 2026. Francescut has already announced her plans to run against him.
We have more on Shasta County at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – (2023) Shasta County Almost Hand-Counted Its Ballots in November. Instead, it Lost an Expensive Game of Election Denial Chicken with the State of California
American Democracy Minute – (2024) Five States Are Considering Conspiracy-Fueled Legislation Which Bans Ballot Tabulators. But Fed-Up Voters are Pushing Back.
Shasta County Scout – After Four Days in his Appointed Role As Registrar of Voters, Clint Curtis Announces Campaign During Private “Town Hall”
Shasta County Scout – New Shasta County Election Official Terminates Top Staffer
SF Gate – ‘Calm anger’: After 17 years, Shasta elections official suddenly fired
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause California, League of Women Voters Redding
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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