Arrest them.......

Northern California county warns of 'very aggressive' people impersonating elections officials

Eric Ting

"Very aggressive" individuals impersonating elections officials have reportedly been knocking on Shasta County residents' doors and questioning their voter registration status, Shasta County's elections office warned residents this week.

"They’re wearing very distinctive neon vests and some kind of ID badge that says 'voter task force,'" County Clerk Cathy Darling Allen told SFGATE. "We are being told that these people are being very aggressive and intimating that they work in this office when they do not. We want voters to know this isn’t an official effort; we have a whole host of tools we use to verify info. Door knocking is not something we would ever do."

Allen said it is probably a safe assumption that members of the fake "voter task force" are individuals who believe, incorrectly, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. In the time since that election, her office has become a "dumping ground for frustrations" and has had to deal with things ranging from frivolous copy-pasted public records requests to demands that the office preserve records it is required to destroy by California state law.

"What we've heard is these people aren't going door-to-door," Allen said. "People who contacted us said, 'My house is the only one on the street they went to.'"

Allen is aware of at least three such instances in Anderson, and at least one in Redding. She said there is no discernible pattern for why certain residents were targeted, and referred the matter to local law enforcement. She has yet to receive any updates.

The Redding Police Department told SFGATE that an investigation remains ongoing, and that officers are still dealing with reports of "guys going up to people to ask how they voted" in previous elections. Federal law states that anyone who "intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose" is committing voter intimidation.

The Shasta County Sheriff's Office said it has yet to receive any reports on the matter, and the Anderson Police Department did not return an SFGATE request for comment.

"It's very egregious in my mind," Allen said. "It’s not acceptable to make any voter feel concerned about their personal security."