Shasta County's Hand-Count Controversy: A Broader View
Dr. Dan Sloan
First of all, yes, machines can be hacked, fraud does occur, corrupt data exists, and election cheating has been and will always be a reality. Election Integrity is essential, or voter turnout will decline significantly. Historic examples exist, like the 2000 Florida election with “Hanging Chads” and the worst-ever election fraud in Liberia; both demonstrate human failure and historical criminal certainty. Fraud investigations, criminal law enforcement, and continuous security and tabulation system improvements are vital to restoring confidence and voter turnout. No earthly system or person will ever be perfect.
President Donald J. Trump is among the most pragmatic and antagonistic American leaders. January 6, 2021 (“J6”) demonstrates many patriotic American citizens' reverence and passion toward President Trump’s Maga movement. In the aftermath of J6, President Trump was impeached a second time and indicted on almost 100 criminal charges. Some of his most fervent supporters believe the election was stolen and that Trump remains the President of the United States. Trump adamantly claims that the 2020 election was stolen through voting machine fraud, mail-in voting, and election interference. Some of his supporters continue to seek evidence, data, and experts that will prove Trump’s claims.
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors decided in a 3-2 vote to terminate Shasta County's contract with Dominion Voting Systems. The contract was set to run through December 31, 2025; however, the Board majority stressed, "You can’t put a price tag on voter trust.” Regardless, many “Election Integrity” supporters oppose Dominion or any other voting machines. The opposition to Dominion machines could have claimed victory, celebrated exuberantly, and moved on to other political battles, like getting Trump reelected in 2024. Had they done so, the legislative bill and revisions written in AB-969 may have never occurred.
The remaining central questions are, “Do voting machine opponents have an ulterior motive or quest? Is the real goal to create a separate state? Are the opponents intent on overturning the 2020 election of Joe Biden?” Most people agree they want more local control, but how to reach that goal is controversial. Hours after the infamous January 6 riots, Congress certified the 2020 election. Joe Biden was sworn in as president on January 20, 2021. Most Americans now argue, including Democrats, against another disastrous four years of a Biden Presidency. The more people experience Biden's incompetence and corruption, the more likely they will vote for Donald Trump in 2024.
Immediately upon assuming office Biden began destroying America by signing executive orders that overturned Trump's legacy. The orders include halting construction funding of Trump’s border wall, ending Trump’s travel ban on largely Muslim countries, imposing a federal property mask mandate, increasing vaccination supplies, abandoning the Keystone XL pipeline, preventing federal use of private prisons, and reversing Trump’s ban on transgender Americans joining the military. In his first 100 days in office, Biden signed more than 60 executive orders, 24 of which are direct reversals of Trump’s policies.
State of Jefferson and Desire for Local Control
Some ardent separatists speculate that a “Constitutional crisis” is necessary to create a 51st state, and the voting machine debacle is that reason. The “State of Jefferson” (SOJ) was organized in 1935 by disaffected southern Oregon and northern California residents concerned that Salem and Sacramento ignored their region's needs. Strong, similar sentiments rallied separate-state believers today. Regional boosters in 1935 threatened to form their own state, which they named “Jefferson” after the nation’s third president. The concept attracted few supporters and faded away.
A revived SOJ campaign began in the fall of 1941 while World War II raged in Europe and Asia. Dissatisfied community leaders from southern Oregon and northern California revived the State of Jefferson idea in an effort to push for more outside funding to develop transportation for the area’s mineral resources, purportedly to aid in the war effort. The group chose “XX” as their official seal to symbolize Oregon’s and California’s “double-crossing” of the region.
In November 1941, proponents of the State of Jefferson issued a mock Proclamation of Independence. The movement was quickly forgotten the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. A pamphlet written in the summer of 1959 revived the idea of a State of Jefferson, this time to attract tourists and new residents to the region, where they declared, “Livability is our greatest resource.”
Many regional groups staunchly and patriotically support a separate state, which they believe will restore “local control” and strict constructionism. “Strict constructionism, or original intent, is a theory limiting the interpretation of legal and constitutional language to the literal meaning of this language at the time of passage. This theory contrasts with a loose construction of laws, which allows broader discretion by judges to determine intent in legal language” (Ballotpedia).
Local leaders claim that California courts wrongly interpret the constitution, thereby undermining local governance and replacing it with State-sanctioned Woke social policies. They also want to keep non-local representatives out of the process, people like Ryan Ronco, president of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials and Placer County Registrar of Voters. Ronco, a Republican, literally stood beside and supported activist Democrat Shasta County ROV Cathy Darling-Allen during the November 7 Special Election. New California and other separate state proposals do exist.
The California Assembly’s Illegal Use of the Urgency Clause
A strongly conservative-led Shasta County Board of Supervisors chose a contract with voting systems manufacturer Hart InterCivic, which is a hybrid-type system that prints and scans paper ballots. The BOS 3-2 conservative majority was unaware that the new Hart InterCivic system would not only print ballots from ADA-accessible voting units but would also scan and electronically tabulate all ballots. Shasta County's new voting system also allows non-Hart printed paper ballots to be scanned. The independence-minded Shasta County community staunchly supports President Donald Trump, hand-count tabulations, and a separate state. They also fervently oppose AB-969 because it was unconstitutionally forced on Shasta County through the illegal use of the “urgency clause.”
Amendments to AB 969 have essentially rendered moot the lawful process for hand counting detailed in Article V of the California Election Code. However, the legislature abused the “urgency clause” detailed in the California Constitution Article IV Section 8(d). There was no urgent need to restrict the manual tally of votes to the point of applicable impossibility. That knee-jerk overreaction and subsequent response has unjustly withdrawn local control from rural communities. There was no urgent need to amend current laws to severely restrict an elections official from conducting a manual vote tally.
The Secretary of State and the State of California, colluding with the Shasta County Registrar of Voters, have maliciously disenfranchised the voters. The State would have expeditiously caused the very outcome (disenfranchisement) they purported they “urgently” needed to prevent. Public arguments and letters of opposition to the initial AB 969 legal strategy, coupled with the new SoS election code section 15270 regulations, illustrate the significant, irreparably flawed, and unconstitutional activities on the part of the State. The State’s actions expose and exemplify how the “urgency” claim and subsequent knee-jerk overreactions were intentionally and unjustly used to thwart public rights and interests.
The legislature was arguably justified in proposing AB 969 to fill a need to ensure counties had a replacement plan for tallying votes in place before terminating an existing contract with a voting system manufacturer. However, the loss of local control is a primary reason that all but one Republican State Legislator voted against AB 969 (except for Republican Assembly member Diane Dixon of Orange County). Now, Shasta County Supervisor Kevin Crye faces a recall for his vote to terminate the Dominion contract. Crye’s opposition targeted him over BOS Chairman Patrick Jones because Crye won his seat by a narrower margin of only 90 votes.
Efforts to Move Local Decisions to State Control
Long before revisions to AB 969, the Shasta County ROV is on record expressing her view that a hand tally of the November 2023 election would be “possible,” “efficient,” and “timely.” She also stated that there was no need for new hand count regulations because the state already had sufficient ones in place. Her "largest concern" was that without imposing new SoS regulations, a November 2023 hand count election would be successful. She said, “I hope, hope, hope" the new regulations come out and prevent a November 2023 election success. State Legislators recognized the error in that strategy and expeditiously outlawed all but small hand-count tabulations, thereby making the ridiculous new SoS rules moot.
Tragically, subsequent amendments morphed AB 969 into a monster of unnecessary centralized control. Punitive and cost prohibitive SoS hand count regulations have predictably and unjustly created a constitutional crisis wherein the State of California has targeted Shasta and other rural counties. In response to a failed strategy to regulate hand counting to the point of impossibility, the legislature expeditiously revised AB 969 in a race to outlaw hand count tallies before the November 7, 2023, Special Election.
Picking up the Pieces
In the event of litigation, arguments will be made that Constitutional rights and freedoms are infringed and could become a cause of action. However, after the success in the November 2023 Special election, Shasta County voters may feel integrity was restored by switching to Hart InterCivic. Voter confidence is the most important change in a new system; confidence may also increase voter turnout in the March 2024 Primary election in which Trump is a candidate.
Hart InterCivic is a far less controversial brand that also uses a modified, SoS-approved hybrid paper ballot voting system. As of January 1, 2006, all Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) touchscreen voting systems used in California must possess a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), meaning that the systems must create a paper ballot that the voter can verify. Then the same system must count the votes from the ballot image created by scanning the ballot into the system.
Voter confidence in election integrity and cost and resource allocation concerns must come first. The State's urgent enactment of new regulations and laws was unnecessary, given that the VVPAT legislation already existed. Rationality and election integrity must supersede urgency.
Understandably, there is great concern that costly and time-consuming litigation may cause fiscal and operational county service failures. Local governance may become untenable. The rugged individualism of the fiscally conservative rural county citizens could contribute to a backlash. The passage of AB 969 unites the opposition and fuels further reform efforts.
A Charter County ballot proposition may go to petition signatures and could make the March 2024 ballot. A split ballot proposition, wherein county elections are separate from state and federal elections, is under consideration. Charter County approval may restore the local control the governor stole with the passage of AB 2582 in case of a recall. Opponents of the Charter argue that it may also lead to converting the ROV to an appointed position, thereby allowing the BOS to replace an activist Democrat ROV with a conservative they feel represents the views of their constituents.
With a supermajority, the California Legislature “urgently” reacts to every move of local governments. Representative government is unlikely when one team owns the playing field and locks out the competition. The people must peacefully rise and vote to rebalance this extreme inequity. Otherwise, one-party rule will further erode and eliminate constitutional freedoms.
There is plenty of blame to go around. Voter apathy and distrust lead to low voter turnout. Trust and election integrity were key goals behind Shasta County's cancellation of the Dominion contract. History has shown that the desire for local control will not subside, and a loss will invigorate those seeking greater autonomy. It should be left to the local voters to decide how to count votes. Election machines, paper ballots, hand-counting, or hybrid approaches should be local decisions. Representative governance ensures voter resources are allocated to this fundamental and essential American right. Let's pray we can find a solution. We must tackle crime, homelessness, economic sustainability, jobs, healthcare, jail space, housing, water, forest fire mitigation, forest management, drug eradication, insurance costs, education, and so much more. The future depends on wise, capable, and proven leadership!
What This Means for the Presidential Race
We are months away from the March 2024 Presidential Primary election. Donal J. Trump would win the Primary by a landslide if the election were held today. The Republican Party must solidify its support around the primary winner, thereby creating a large contingency of Trump support. Given that the polls place Democrat support for a second Biden presidency at less than 39%, there is general agreement from all that Joe Biden should not run again. In fact, the polls show that many people think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents agree that the country would be better off in the last three years if Joe Biden were not president. Donald J. Trump would have been a far better choice.
Come November 2024, Donald Trump may win the presidency again. On January 20, 2025, President Trump will sign Executive Orders to overturn the damage done by the Biden administration. President Trump will also begin day one with Executive Orders that will create Election Integrity Commissions and begin to put faith back into a broken election system. Trump will direct a new Attorney General to take action against illegal election activities. It is just a matter of time now. The presumptive 2024 Presidential election winner is Donald J. Trump. With just 60 days from the primary election, all who support a return to Trump policies must redirect their effort to one thing: electing Donald Trump. Fighting “the swamp” is not enough. Conservative Republicans must win the 2024 election!
