Shasta County elections finalize votes after weeks of ballot counting
REDDING, Calif. — This year, Shasta County saw an increase of about 10,000 ballots. Plus, local elections had to follow CDC guidelines to help prevent spreading COVID-19 at election polls.
During the last presidential elections, Shasta County saw about 85,000 votes. This year, that number spiked to 95,000. The county has also seen an increase in voter registration; this year, there were 112,000 people registered to vote. This increase is due to a combination of more people being interested in voting as well as the county's voter registration partnership with the DMV.
Now, after weeks of counting ballots, the race is finally coming to an end. “We are just really thrilled to be sliding into the end of the elections. We will do our final vote tabulation today and certify the election today before we leave, so that is really exciting and we will report our results to the state,” says Shasta County Clerk Registrar of Voters, Cathy Darling Allen.
She mentions employees have been hard at work for at least 18 months, and they are definitely ready for a vacation. She says the elections office welcomes any questions relating to and visitors who may be curious about the counting process.
One question they have often received is in regards to people wanting to know what date and what time their vote was counted; however, because the California constitution guarantees a secret ballot in order to protect voters' privacy and to shield voters from any possible retaliation, the county is unable to track this information.
Allen’s best advice regarding any election, especially this one, is to “find trust[ed} sources to verify data they share online." She says that " we are still experiencing a ton of misinformation now about the election. We are happy to answer questions if people have questions and want to call us; [in addition], we are happy to show people around our office and explain how all the processes work and all the things we do to keep the votes secured.”
For election updates, visit elections.co.shasta.ca.us/.
