Shasta County reports possible voter intimidation; California governor signs voting protection laws
Excerpted from KCRA
By Orko Manna
"While California voters are about six weeks away from the Midterm Elections, voter and poll worker protections are top of mind in Shasta County as officials warn residents about possible voter intimidation.
Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen sent a notice out Monday to inform the public about potential voter intimidation occurring in the county.
“Reports have been received by the department that there are people contacting voters at their homes and questioning their voter registration status,” the news release stated.
The note also explained that this activity violates California law and that local law enforcement has been notified.
KCRA 3 spoke with Kim Alexander, president and founder of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the voting process, about the developments in Shasta County, electioneering prohibitions in California and a new state law that protects election workers.
"I was really appalled to hear that people were implying in Shasta County that they were on the staff of the elections office," Alexander said.
The message to Shasta County residents said employees of the County Election Department will never do personal visits to someone’s home. Alexander said if something like this happens to you, you should report it immediately to the Secretary of State or your county registrar of voters.
New legislation to protect election officials and poll workers
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1131 into law Monday, and the main purpose of the new legislation is to protect elections workers by giving them the option to keep their home addresses confidential. That can be done either through the Secretary of State’s "Safe at Home" program or the state’s address confidentiality program for public officials.
The bill, authored by State Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, and co-sponsored by the California Voter Foundation and Brennan Center for Justice, is meant to keep the personal information of those election officials private.
The goal is to "keep their personal information out of the hands of would-be doxers who might seek to harass or antagonize and intimidate them by making their personal information available online," Alexander said.
The bill also protects poll workers at voting sites.
"There is a long-standing law that required counties to publicly post the names of poll workers at voting sites and on their websites, and that is no longer allowed under California law," Alexander said.
SB 1131 includes an urgency clause, so it goes into effect immediately. That means the protections for California election officials and poll workers are in place for the November election.
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