The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 5, 2023
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Just days before the Nov. 2023 election, the chair of the Shasta County, CA Board of Supervisors was threatening to defy a new California law, and hand count ballots instead of using an electronic ballot tabulator. The county supervisors blinked.
Shasta County has over 111,000 registered voters, but as we’ve reported, county supervisors severed the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems. The county’s registrar of voters estimated that a manual count would require almost 87,000 hours by over 1,200 election workers – at a cost of $1.65 Million dollars. Hand counting is considered less accurate and more expensive by election experts.
CalMatters reports that Oct. 4th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that restricts hand counting to limited situations, and prohibits manual counts in elections larger than 1,000 registered voters, or 5,000 for special elections. After County Board Chair Patrick Henry Jones reportedly suggested the county would not follow the new law, the California Secretary of State issued a warning making clear the state would take action if it didn’t. The State sent monitors to ensure compliance, and the election was conducted with no issues using new tabulators at a cost of $950,000 dollars.
Other hand counting challenges by election deniers persisted in recent weeks in New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida.
We have more on hand counting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Shasta County – Analysis of Manual Tally Options for Shasta County
CalMatters – Why Shasta County is at center of California voting, again
Redding Record Searchlight – Shasta supervisors talk pay raises, Hart voting machines
Los Angeles Times – Shasta County ditched its Dominion voting machines. Now, residents are braced for turmoil on Nov. 7
The Guardian – The California county where far-right officials tried to upend voting
Democracy Groups – Requests for action in Shasta County in advance of the November 2023 and
March 2024 elections
CA Sec. of State – Letter, RE: Shasta County November 7, 2023, Election
Democracy Docket – California’s Shasta County Abandons Plan To Hand Count Election
Concord, NH Monitor – NH Supreme Court considers case about ballot-counting machines draws a crowd
Democracy Docket – New Report Sheds Light on Hand Counting Ballots Ahead of 2024
Groups Taking Action:
ACLU Foundation of Northern CA, CA Common Cause, CA Voter Foundation, Voting Rights Practice Group, Disability Rights CA, League of Women Voters of CA
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