Shasta County Residents Speak Out: Passionate Public Comments on Voter ID Measure
- Kari Chilson
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
At the Shasta County Board of Supervisors' regular meeting on February 24, 2026, the public comment period turned into a forum for strong community voices on election integrity. Citizens lined up to express frustration over a recent anonymous lawsuit threatening to block Measure B (the Voter ID, Hand-Counted Ballots, and Absentee Voting Limits Initiative) from the June 2, 2026, primary ballot—dismissing more than 10,000 citizens who signed the petition.
In a special closed session on February 20, the Board voted 4-1 to take no position, deferring to the courts. Many speakers viewed this hands-off approach as a failure to defend the petitioners' will, accusing the Board of lacking courage against what they see as interference in local democracy.
The attached 11-minute video clip captures compelling moments from this open time segment, featuring everyday citizens, a veteran, and Registrar Clint Curtis himself.
Highlights include:
- Calls for the Board to push back against state overreach, drawing parallels to their other local resistance efforts, and questioning the anonymity of "Jane Doe."
- Clint Curtis calls on the Board to fully defend against the Jane Doe lawsuit, arguing that it seeks to undermine the referendum process itself. Referendums are 'illegal' until they pass—that's the point: they exist to change the current law.
- A U.S. veteran shared his personal story of election irregularities, explaining how mail-in ballots continued to arrive for his deceased brother and went unprocessed despite multiple returns to the Registrar's office. He expressed renewed confidence in the system under Registrar Clint Curtis: "For the first time, I feel like that we're going to have a fair and balanced system." He added that "men and women have been fighting and dying for those rights since the founding fathers" and emphasized the right to "change the system" as a fundamental one.
Watch an 11-minute clip below to hear some of these voices unfiltered, or go to the Shasta County website where you can watch the entire meeting: https://shastacountyca.new.swagit.com/videos/376175
Excerpt from the February 24, 2026, Shasta County Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting. Official archive: https://shastacountyca.new.swagit.com/videos/376175
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