{"id":362792,"date":"2026-06-16T14:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/362792\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T14:03:14","slug":"california-sues-shasta-county-as-expected-after-voters-approve-measure-to-eliminate-most-mail-in-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/362792\/","title":{"rendered":"California sues Shasta County \u2014 as expected \u2014 after voters approve measure to eliminate most mail-in voting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The painfully slow vote count<\/a> after California\u2019s June 2 primary attracted national headlines and baseless claims of cheating<\/a> by President Trump, who was focused on the high-profile races for governor and Los Angeles mayor.<\/p>\n

But the fight over election integrity continues to be played out in dramatic terms in rural Shasta County. <\/p>\n

Voters in the Northern California county just approved<\/a> a measure that eliminates most mail-in voting and requires residents to present government-issued photo identification to vote, among other things.<\/p>\n

You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n

L.A. Times reporters guide you through the most important news, features and recommendations of the morning.<\/p>\n

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n

Both opponents and supporters of the citizens\u2019 initiative, Measure B, told me before the election that they expected<\/a> the county to be sued over it. And they were right.<\/p>\n

California sues Shasta County<\/p>\n

On Friday, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, the state\u2019s top elections official, sued Shasta County in the 3rd District Court of Appeal, arguing that Measure B violates state election laws and must be struck down before the November election.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasure B is legally indefensible. It directly conflicts with state law and threatens to upend the orderly administration of elections,\u201d Bonta said in a statement, adding that \u201cno city or county gets to unilaterally rewrite our election rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Measure B would require elections to be held in person on a single day and create a separate county voter registration system disconnected from the state\u2019s uniform system.<\/p>\n

It also would limit voting by mail \u2014 the method used by an overwhelming majority<\/a> of Californians, including in Shasta County<\/a> \u2014 to \u201cthe infirm, military, and U.S. citizens living overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email Monday, Shasta County spokesperson Miranda Angel said the county could not comment on ongoing litigation.<\/p>\n

A history of election skepticism<\/p>\n

In 2023, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, swept up in unfounded election fraud allegations promoted by Trump, ditched Dominion voting machines<\/a> and opted to<\/a> hand-count ballots for the county\u2019s more than 110,000 registered voters \u2014 quickly prompting a new state law<\/a> that banned them from doing so.<\/p>\n

Last year, the supervisors appointed Clint Curtis \u2014 a Florida-based attorney whose claims about rigged voting machines<\/a> stretch back to the early 2000s<\/a> \u2014 to be the Shasta County registrar of voters, a position vacated by two previous registrars who resigned for health reasons they said were exacerbated by the stress of the job.<\/p>\n

Curtis promptly eliminated nine of the vast county\u2019s 13 ballot drop boxes. He accused his predecessors in the registrar\u2019s office, without evidence, of stuffing ballots to sabotage conservative Republicans. And he called for federal authorities to raid his office and seize ballots.<\/p>\n

Curtis also advocated for<\/a> Measure B and now is named as a defendant in the state\u2019s 65-page lawsuit. He was voted out of office<\/a> this month and will be replaced in January by Joanna Francescut, the former longtime assistant registrar, whom he fired<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Who is surprised? No one<\/p>\n

Richard Gallardo, a leader of the citizens\u2019 group Save Shasta Elections, which wrote Measure B and collected thousands of signatures to get it on the ballot, told me last month that he figured a lawsuit was imminent.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Richard Gallardo, a leader of the citizens\u2019 group that wrote Shasta County\u2019s Measure B, is blocked by a guard in November 2022 after attempting to go into a restricted area to observe ballots at the elections office in Redding. At right is then-assistant county registrar Joanna Francescut, who was elected this month to be the next registrar. <\/p>\n

(Mel Melcon\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t like the state laws. We want to enact our own local election reform. \u2026 Yes, we do expect the state to sue us,\u201d said Gallardo, an election integrity activist who once tried, unsuccessfully, to place all of the county supervisors under citizen\u2019s arrest<\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Gallardo, who is among the \u201creal parties in interest\u201d named in the lawsuit, said that if Measure B passed, the onus was on the county to \u201cfully and fervently\u201d defend it in court because it\u2019s \u201cthe will of the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

State prevailed in similar lawsuit and the clock\u2019s ticking<\/p>\n

Bonta and Weber previously sued Huntington Beach over its 2024 city charter amendment that would have required voter ID. An appellate court struck down the law, and the California Supreme Court this January declined to hear<\/a> the city\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n

In their lawsuit against Shasta County, Bonta and Weber argue that Measure B is preempted by California law, which requires uniform election rules across the state.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit urges a quick decision because election officials are required by state law to begin mailing voter information guides and ballots for the November election to all active registered voters in September and early October.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s top stories \"Newsom <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Newsom investigationEl Ni\u00f1o and the Pacifica PierB-52 crashA U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber plane crashed at Edwards Air Force Base<\/a> on Monday morning during a \u201croutine test mission\u201d.All eight people onboard are presumed dead, officials said.\u201cWe lost eight great Americans,\u201d Col. James Hayes told reporters Monday. What else is going onCommentary and opinionsTrump goes after Newsom\u2019s wife? Unsurprising<\/a>, but also a new level of authoritarianism, writes Anita Chabria. Small investors have powered SpaceX higher, but they\u2019ll shoulder much of the risk<\/a> when reality bites, argues Michael Hiltzik.This morning\u2019s must-readOther must-readsFor your downtime \"An <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Nico189 \/ For the Times)<\/p>\n

Going outStaying inQuestion of the day: What\u2019s your favorite California song of the summer?<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Is This Love\u2019 by Bob Marley. That one always evokes beach vibes.\u201d \u2014 Reader Julie Cortez<\/p>\n

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n

And finally … the photo of the day \"A <\/a> <\/p>\n

A rose peeks through a fence at St. Rose of Lima Church on Atlantic Boulevard<\/p>\n

(Scott Strazzante\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n

Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The painfully slow vote count after California\u2019s June 2 primary attracted national headlines and baseless claims of cheating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-362792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}