Members of a Shasta County group that rallied and spent months collecting signatures to put on a future ballot a measure that essentially would override California election laws is now encouraging the Board of Supervisors to approve the changes outright.
Laura Hobbs, co-chair of the Shasta Election Task Force, reminded the board that their group collected more than 10,000 signatures. The signatures are in the process of being verified. If enough get verified, they will be presented to supervisors, who are expected to send the referendum to voters.
In all likelihood, the measure would be on the June 2026 ballot.
“But you have the option when it is presented to you here at the board meeting, you can adopt a local ordinance and have it take effect immediately,” Hobbs said. “So, you can either adopt it immediately during that meeting or within 10 days after this is presented to you.”
Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis, far right in blue suit, talks to supporters after the Tuesday, Sept. 23,2025, Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting.
Hobbs even suggested that doing so would be a politically smart move, saying supervisors who are up for re-election in 2026 “could use the political capital in your upcoming elections as well.”
District 1 Supervisor Kevin Crye, who chairs the board, and District 5 Supervisor Chris Kelstrom are up for re-election next June.
Shasta Election Task Force member Antonia Palacio echoed Hobbs.
“Please adopt the voter ID initiative. This was supported by over 10,000 people in Shasta County. By adopting this measure, this measure would be saving the county money, and we are all about saving money, right?” Palacio said.
Hobbs cited California Elections Code 9310 to back her assertion, which gives the governing body the option to adopt an ordinance if enough verified signatures on a petition are presented.
But the code does not supersede state law.
What the local measure proposes, like Voter ID and counting ballots by hand, run counter to state law.
The county has said that the measure raises concerns and it “conflicts with state and federal laws, including the California Constitution, the California Elections Code, the Help America Vote Act, and the National Voter Registration Act.”
Too, Crye led the charge to change Shasta from a general law to a charter county. He campaigned that a charter county gives more voice to residents to dictate the direction of the county.
Adopting major changes to local election rules rather than sending the measure to voters would seem to contradict that.
Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has said that if the measure gets on the ballot and passes, he expects lawsuits to be filed, and the courts will ultimately have the final word.
Curtis said about 85% of the signatures counted in the initial random survey of 500 were verified, which fell short of the threshold to avoid a verification of all the signatures submitted.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other North State stories. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Petitioners ask Shasta Co. to OK measure instead of sending to ballot