Shasta County Voters Back Measure B by 55%, Ending Mail Voting and Requiring Photo ID
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
Shasta County Voters Back Measure B by 55%, Ending Mail Voting and Requiring Photo ID
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 10
Summary
More than 55% of Shasta County voters approved Measure B, which would shift local elections to in-person, single-day voting, require photo ID and hand counts, and sharply restrict absentee ballots.
About 85% of county residents currently vote by mail, and 88% of Measure B supporters themselves cast mail ballots, making the change a major break from how the county already votes.
California officials and voting-rights groups say the measure appears to violate state law, which bars local voter-ID rules and limits manual tallies, raising the prospect of state action and litigation.
Shasta’s election system has been a flashpoint since 2020, with fraud claims driving efforts to drop Dominion machines and expand hand counts; the vote came as conspiracy theories again swelled after last week’s California election.
The result hands election-skeptic activists a policy win even as voters ousted registrar Clint Curtis, a Measure B supporter, in favor of former elections office veteran Joanna Francescut.
After ousting its controversial election chief, will a county's new voting law restore trust or deepen its fiscal crisis?
Can a county's vote to hand-count ballots survive a state lawsuit and a price tag estimated in the millions?
Measure B’s Passage in Shasta County: Legal Battles, Political Division, and a Test Case for California Elections
Overview
Measure B, a controversial initiative mandating voter identification and new election rules in Shasta County, passed in the June 2026 election. Although the outcome was clear, the measure’s provisions directly conflict with state and federal election laws, raising serious concerns about its legality and enforceability. This has created immediate legal uncertainty for the county, as opponents warned that implementing Measure B would likely lead to expensive legal challenges. The situation highlights the tension between local efforts to change election rules and the broader legal framework, setting the stage for a significant legal showdown in Shasta County.