Pro-democracy groups plan to monitor Shasta County election

This story was originally published by Public News Service.

Election Hero Day and tomorrow, "good government" groups will be monitoring the local election in rural Shasta County, to support election workers there and make sure the laws are followed.

Recently, members of the Board of Supervisors said they wanted a hand count on election night, even though state law requires the first count to be done using optical scanners.

Dora Rose, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California, will be in Shasta County for the vote. She condemned the county's attempt to get rid of voting machines and spread fear about potential voter fraud.

"A few key decision-makers have perpetrated the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen," Rose explained. "Based on that false claim, they took very risky, very disruptive actions that could have destabilized the election."

Shasta County got rid of its Dominion Voting machines and tried to go to a system of all hand-counting before the state stepped in to require electronic tabulation first, and reserve hand-counts for post-vote audits. Tomorrow, voters in 21 counties go to the polls to decide local issues.

Kim Alexander, founder and president of the California Voter Foundation, encouraged people to call their local registrar of voters or stop by and bring flowers or balloons to express support for election workers. She said so many have been threatened in the wake of the 2020 election and the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"This has become a new strategy in elections, and it's very discouraging," Alexander emphasized. "That's why it's so important to show support for the people in charge of running U.S. elections. People who are underpaid, overworked, understaffed; and now increasingly, unfortunately, under attack."

Celebrated nationally, Election Hero Day is always the Monday before Election Day, which is the first Tuesday in November.