State of California

California Shasta County Election Administration Challenge

Ladd v. Toller

Petition filed by two voters against Shasta County Registrar of Voters Thomas Toller challenging Shasta County’s voter roll maintenance and election administration policies throughout the 2024 general election. 

The plaintiffs allege that the registrar failed to conduct voter roll maintenance ahead of the 2024 election. Due to this failure, the plaintiffs claim, vote-by-mail ballots were sent to undeliverable addresses. The plaintiffs also allege that the registrar prevented election observers from observing important procedures throughout the vote count and certification proceedings, including the signature verification and ballot duplication processes. They claim that during these proceedings the registrar failed to ensure the security and chain of custody of ballots. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege that due to a ballot printing error, almost half of all the ballots cast in Shasta County could not be counted, creating an error rate of 46% which far exceeds the error rate recommended under the federal Help America Vote Act. Lastly, the plaintiffs allege that the registrar failed to properly test the voting equipment, leading to discrepancies in voting machine time logs, the number of ballots properly duplicated for or rejected from the final vote count and the total number of ballots counted compared to the number of voters who cast ballots.

The plaintiffs argue that these actions violate numerous state laws that require the registrar to conduct mandatory voter roll maintenance, ensure the chain of custody of ballots, test voting equipment and allow election observers to observe the entire vote counting and certification process. They ask the court to order the registrar to conduct a review of its 2024 election policies and take steps to ensure the registrar complies with the law in future elections.

STATUS: The plaintiffs filed their petition on Jan. 30, 2025. The defendants have not responded yet.

Case Documents

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