Post by Atticus Pizzaballa on Apr 4, 2023 9:36:00 GMT -5
California
Dani Anguiano in Redding, California
@dani_anguiano
Tue 4 Apr 2023 06.00 EDT
In Shasta county, a conservative stronghold of 180,000 in the far north of blue California, a new vision for elections is taking shape: paper ballots, no machines and results tallied entirely by hand.
It’s a vision predicated on the false belief that voting machines helped to steal the presidency from Donald Trump, and that the systems by which millions of Americans vote are unsafe. But in Shasta, they just might make that vision reality.
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow.
Mike Lindell backs rightwing California county as it ditches voting machines
Read more
Shasta became a hotbed for far-right politics in the pandemic years, and election deniers have found allies on the county’s governing body, the board of supervisors. In March the board’s hard-right majority cut ties with Dominion Voting Systems, the company at the center of baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Last week the supervisors took steps to replace it with a hand-count system. The county ended its contract with Dominion before establishing a replacement and now, with a potential special election months away and the presidential primary a year out, it has no voting system in place as it embarks on a plan to create an entirely new system from scratch.
The registrar of voters, the elected official who oversees voting in the county, warned it would be a challenging and time-consuming effort – requiring more than 1,200 new workers at a cost of at least $1.6m – and still far less accurate than the machines the county has used for years. The deputy secretary of state has warned the county could violate multiple federal and state laws by not selecting a certified voting system. But the board of supervisors moved ahead.
The county’s decision could have long-lasting consequences for the region and provide a framework for election deniers on how to advance their agenda across the US, all while giving oxygen to false claims that the nation’s voting technology is compromised.
“We are being used as a guinea pig by these people,” said Mary Rickert, one of two county supervisors who voted against the decision, referring to Mike Lindell and other proponents of lies about election fraud. “It’s very disconcerting to me and it’s very troubling we have supervisors playing into this grand plan of being at the forefront of this movement.”
This comes after years of political turmoil in the region, which saw a bitter backlash to pandemic restrictions that coalesced into a thriving anti-establishment movement. An ultra-rightwing majority, backed by a Connecticut millionaire and local militia groups, gained control of the board of supervisors and aggressively pushed their agenda, ousting county bureaucrats and ushering in a “devastating” exodus of workers.
The upheaval has drawn national attention, including from prominent figures in the election denial movement, such as Mike Lindell. The MyPillow chief executive and a leading promoter of falsehoods about election fraud pledged to support the county’s efforts and met with a supervisor. But as outsiders relish the chaos, residents say a small but vocal minority with fringe beliefs has taken near total control of the county and created deep divisions.
‘The process isn’t broken’
The turmoil was starkly evident during a rowdy, 11-hour public meeting last week during which the board of supervisors addressed the voting system. With security guards flanking the entrance, the board chambers in Redding began filling up before 9am, leaving many standing at the edges of the room. The lengthy public comment period was filled with applause, confrontation, shouts and boos.
There was a large showing of speakers who begged the county to reverse its previous decision to cut ties with Dominion, even just temporarily, before thousands of voters were disenfranchised. “Let our election workers do their jobs. This is my constitutional right to vote and I hate it being messed with,” one speaker said.
The very supervisors who claim Dominion machines are not to be trusted were elected by voters using those same machines, several people pointed out.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/04/far-right-county-throws-out-voting-machines-with-nothing-to-replace-them?utm_term=642c1147c7b2cb3f5dc3a23114e1c1b5&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
Now watch this development
Far-right county throws out voting machines – with nothing to replace them
Shasta county’s decision to move to a hand-count system has drawn support from the election denial movementDani Anguiano in Redding, California
@dani_anguiano
Tue 4 Apr 2023 06.00 EDT
In Shasta county, a conservative stronghold of 180,000 in the far north of blue California, a new vision for elections is taking shape: paper ballots, no machines and results tallied entirely by hand.
It’s a vision predicated on the false belief that voting machines helped to steal the presidency from Donald Trump, and that the systems by which millions of Americans vote are unsafe. But in Shasta, they just might make that vision reality.
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow.
Mike Lindell backs rightwing California county as it ditches voting machines
Read more
Shasta became a hotbed for far-right politics in the pandemic years, and election deniers have found allies on the county’s governing body, the board of supervisors. In March the board’s hard-right majority cut ties with Dominion Voting Systems, the company at the center of baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Last week the supervisors took steps to replace it with a hand-count system. The county ended its contract with Dominion before establishing a replacement and now, with a potential special election months away and the presidential primary a year out, it has no voting system in place as it embarks on a plan to create an entirely new system from scratch.
The registrar of voters, the elected official who oversees voting in the county, warned it would be a challenging and time-consuming effort – requiring more than 1,200 new workers at a cost of at least $1.6m – and still far less accurate than the machines the county has used for years. The deputy secretary of state has warned the county could violate multiple federal and state laws by not selecting a certified voting system. But the board of supervisors moved ahead.
The county’s decision could have long-lasting consequences for the region and provide a framework for election deniers on how to advance their agenda across the US, all while giving oxygen to false claims that the nation’s voting technology is compromised.
“We are being used as a guinea pig by these people,” said Mary Rickert, one of two county supervisors who voted against the decision, referring to Mike Lindell and other proponents of lies about election fraud. “It’s very disconcerting to me and it’s very troubling we have supervisors playing into this grand plan of being at the forefront of this movement.”
This comes after years of political turmoil in the region, which saw a bitter backlash to pandemic restrictions that coalesced into a thriving anti-establishment movement. An ultra-rightwing majority, backed by a Connecticut millionaire and local militia groups, gained control of the board of supervisors and aggressively pushed their agenda, ousting county bureaucrats and ushering in a “devastating” exodus of workers.
The upheaval has drawn national attention, including from prominent figures in the election denial movement, such as Mike Lindell. The MyPillow chief executive and a leading promoter of falsehoods about election fraud pledged to support the county’s efforts and met with a supervisor. But as outsiders relish the chaos, residents say a small but vocal minority with fringe beliefs has taken near total control of the county and created deep divisions.
‘The process isn’t broken’
The turmoil was starkly evident during a rowdy, 11-hour public meeting last week during which the board of supervisors addressed the voting system. With security guards flanking the entrance, the board chambers in Redding began filling up before 9am, leaving many standing at the edges of the room. The lengthy public comment period was filled with applause, confrontation, shouts and boos.
There was a large showing of speakers who begged the county to reverse its previous decision to cut ties with Dominion, even just temporarily, before thousands of voters were disenfranchised. “Let our election workers do their jobs. This is my constitutional right to vote and I hate it being messed with,” one speaker said.
The very supervisors who claim Dominion machines are not to be trusted were elected by voters using those same machines, several people pointed out.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/04/far-right-county-throws-out-voting-machines-with-nothing-to-replace-them?utm_term=642c1147c7b2cb3f5dc3a23114e1c1b5&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
Now watch this development
