Judge Rules Shasta County Voter ID Initiative Must Move Forward

County Counsel Joseph Larmour had requested a preliminary injunction, arguing the initiative would break state and federal laws.

People arrive to cast their ballots at the Shasta County Clerk & Registrar of Voters offices in Redding in Northern Califonia's Shasta County on Feb. 23, 2024. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Shasta County Supervisors held a special closed session meeting Friday morning to discuss a new plan after a judge denied their request for a preliminary injunction against a group of citizens to introduce a voter ID initiative on the 2026 ballot.

A group of citizens in the county drafted a ballot initiative intending to amend the county’s charter, through a charter amendment initiative, to guarantee election integrity. The proposition includes a provision for single-day voting, manual counting of ballots, limiting absentee ballots, requiring voter ID, and a variety of other proposals.