National election deniers have been traveling the country spreading misinformation about election security. Once they leave, local elections officials are left to deal with the fallout.
On Monday night, Shasta County Clerk Cathy Darling Allen hosted a virtual town hall to help voters understand why these claims are false.
Darling Allen said residents should refute claims when they hear them, or people will continue to distrust elections.
“It can be hard when you are in the minority in a room or in a conversation to say ‘hey, you know what, I don’t think that’s right and here’s why,’" she said. "But it’s important that we do that.”
Joining her at the event was Professor Justin Grimmer, a political scientist at Stanford, who said these conspiracy theorists often provide no direct evidence.
“If you’re gonna make a big claim that every election within America is being stolen, I would wanna know a lot more than just a big correlation," Grimmer said. "Show me the hard evidence, show me what the private investigators have uncovered, show me the ballot factories.”
Officials at the town hall also addressed reports of people coming to voters’ homes and questioning them about their voter registration status.
Placer County Clerk Ryan Ronco said these people going door-to-door are not trained in the specifics of the elections system, and they’re not affiliated with the elections department.
Darling Allen plans to host more of these town halls after the midterm elections in November.
