After axing Dominion, Shasta eyes election policy, commission to hand count some races

An "Election Manual Tally Selection Commission" that would pick one local race to hand count could be coming to Shasta County.

On Tuesday, supervisors will consider adopting a policy that would require a manual tally for one randomly selected election contest and establish a commission, appointed by supervisors, that could select a local race to hand count if it so chooses.

County Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen would randomly select what race to hand count.

The county does not say how much the proposed changes will add to the costs to hold elections.

It all comes as a board majority, led by District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones, is pushing to get rid of voting machines and hand count all ballots in county elections.

The Election Manual Tally Selection Commission would meet in public no later than five days after the election and prior to the results being certified to consider picking a second eligible race to hand count.

Darling Allen would randomly select the first race to hand count before the commission met.

The policy would not obligate the commission to select an additional race to hand count.

New voting machines could push county's election costs from $524K to $1.8M

Supervisors also on Tuesday will be asked to give Darling Allen the authority to negotiate a new voting machine contract with Hart InterCivic or ES&S.

The county's rush to purchase a new voting system before the next special election on Aug. 29 comes two months after the county voted 3-2 to prematurely terminate the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems, a controversial decision that has received state and national attention.

Read more:At Shasta supervisor's town hall, MyPillow guy, Dominion, New California VP questions ring out

Supervisors Jones, Kevin Crye and Chris Kelstrom voted to ditch the Dominion machines.

But supervisors have been told by county Counsel Rubin Cruse Jr. and state Attorney General Rob Bonta, via a letter, that getting rid of voting machines would break federal election laws, which says each polling site must have one voting machine that is accessible to the disabled.

Supervisors on Tuesday could rescind their decision to get rid of Dominion and bring the machines back, but Jones, Crye and Kelstrom have not indicated a willingness to do that.

'More time-consuming, more complex':What would happen if Shasta County opts for hand-counting ballots? We asked these experts.

The decision to end the contract with Dominion and go with another voting system will cost the county extra money.

Darling Allen’s office estimates replacing Dominion with either of the two other state-certified systems, Hart InterCivic or ES&S, would cost the county more than three times more than keeping Dominion for fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25.

The cost to keep Dominion would be $524,000. For Hart, the estimated cost is $1,806,853. The estimated cost for ES&S is $1,878,450, according to the latest staff report.

In addition, doing hand counts for potentially two more local races, on top of current state law that requires a manual 1% audit by Darling Allen’s office, will cost more money. But the staff report does not estimate how much.

“We are doing at this moment some hand counting of ballots. We started the process yesterday to do some time studies to come up with verifiable and solid costs,” Darling Allen said Thursday afternoon. “My concern is frankly to be coming up with cost for a full hand count.”

'Somewhat frustrating, but cordial'

Darling Allen said she did not know if the Jones-led-majority board is still considering eventually going to a hand count of all ballots.

Jones couldn't be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Jones and Crye have met three times this month with Darling Allen and her staff to talk about the feasibility of hand counting ballots. Representatives from the California Secretary of State’s Office were at one of the meetings.

In addition, the first meeting, on March 13, included Linda Rantz, co-organizer of Missouri Canvassers, a group that according to news reports is affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

More:Fact check: Despite Shasta supervisor's claim, Missouri is not counting every vote by hand

Lindell, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, has falsely accused Dominion Voting Systems of rigging the 2020 election and is currently fighting a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion.

Crye has said that he recently flew out to meet with Lindell and secured an unspecified amount of money from Lindell, which could be used to fight any legal battles the county encounters were it to go to hand-counting all ballots.

“It’s really difficult to sum it up. Somewhat frustrating, but cordial. There was no issue, no bad behavior,” Darling Allen said when asked how the meetings with Crye and Jones went.

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 stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County eyes election policy, commission to hand count some races