Convicted election tamperer turns down Shasta County job after governor's outcry

Clint Curtis, Shasta County’s registrar of voters, announced a plan to bring Tina Peters, a former Colorado clerk convicted of election-machine tampering, on as a consultant to oversee the November ballot. The proposal sparked immediate backlash from Governor Gavin Newsom, who called the idea a disgrace and ordered corrections officials to block any transfer of Peters’ parole supervision to California. Peters’ attorney Peter Ticktin said his client weighed the offer but ultimately rejected it, noting her extensive travel commitments.

Critics argued that employing a felon with a history of election fraud threatened public confidence, while Curtis dismissed the governor’s concerns as “crazy.” The episode unfolded amid broader scrutiny of Curtis’s own election-skeptic activities and his pending primary defeat. Both state officials and local election workers expressed relief at the offer’s withdrawal, emphasizing the need for transparent election administration.