Charter Amendment Signature Verification Goes Forward After citizen group Save Shasta Elections was told they would have to pay $12-19,000 for Signature Verification

Citizen group, Save Shasta Elections, circulated petitions in support of putting an

amendment to our charter on the ballot so citizens could decide if they want fair and

transparent elections.

Shasta County was well on its way to becoming a charter county when voters passed

Measure D on March 5, 2024. Charter Counties have sovereign authority to run their

county business in the manner the citizens want it to be run. From the response of

citizens to petition gatherers—hurrying up to signature gatherers with their clipboards or

to the tables with red Voter ID table clothes at gatherings and shopping centers,

stopping them on the street to thank them for what they were doing—it is clear that our

citizens are concerned about the safety and integrity of our elections.

Volunteers spent 6 months securing over 10,000 petition signatures. 6,800 are required

to put the measure on the ballot. A random sampling of 500 votes was signature verified

with an 86% validation rate. That means at that rate, 8,600 signatures should be valid,

giving a wide margin and ensuring the measure will go to ballot.

The process of the Validation of the Petition Signatures was halted when County

Counsel, Joseph Larmour, decided Save Shasta Elections, would have to pay $12-

19,000 to have the petition signatures validated.

Richard Gallardo, co-chair of Save Shasta Elections was surprised at this charge. He

said, “Redding may have been charged to validate their tax measure because the City

of Redding contracts with the county elections office (to run their elections) but

otherwise, no county petition should ever be charged for validation. There are no laws

requiring validation payment, nor are there written laws prohibiting validation payment.

The law is silent on this matter”. No one could be found who ever remembers a citizen

led petition drive having been charged for signature verification. Neither the Crye nor

the Moty recalls, the most recent issues needing petition drives, were charged.

When questioned by Registrar of Voters, Clint Curtis, Mr. Larmour was unable to find

anything in the elections code that said payment was required and history in the county

of signature verifications requiring payment. In a phone call with Clint Curtis, he

announced there would be no charge.

This problem was of concern to the citizen volunteer signature gatherers. Save Shasta Elections is a citizen driven organization that operates on a wing and a prayer. Save Shasta Elections co-chair said, “Thankfully we have a Registrar of Voters, Clint Curtis, that recognizes the citizens' right to petition their government for meaningful election reform.  If it were left up to Joseph Larmour (county counsel) ….this initiative would not have succeeded for lack of big money backing. We believe citizens should be able to participate in their government and any attempt to limit this ability is an infringement upon "We The People" and self-governance.