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A Shasta County Superior Court judge has put the brakes on a voter-approved ballot measure that would place substantial new restrictions on voting in the county.
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The move means the county won’t enforce the rules specified in Measure B, which would ban mail-in and most early voting, require voters to show ID to register to vote or cast ballots, and mandate that election officials hand-count ballots.
Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber sought to block the measure, approved by 55% of voters in June, on the grounds that the county lacked authority to pass its own voting laws and the voting requirements contradicted state law.
Shasta County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Hanna agreed on both counts, saying the measures’ backers were unlikely to succeed at a full trial.
“Shasta County’s status as a charter county does not entitle it to enact invalid legislation simply because some in this community do not agree with existing law,” Hanna said.
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Measure B was spearheaded by the county’s outgoing registrar, Clint Curtis. He did not respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.
Curtis has embraced election conspiracies, claiming without evidence that “you can’t trust the [voting] machines,” according to the Redding Record Searchlight. County investigations earlier this year found Curtis threatened to pull an employee out by their hair, made campaign-related calls during work hours and “contributed to an unprofessional work environment.”
Curtis lost his reelection bid in June.
In a statement, Bonta said the ruling “prevents Measure B from taking effect while our litigation proceeds, providing certainty that the November election will be conducted under California’s established election laws.”
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