Kaila Philo for TPM:

A deep red enclave in rural Northern California has recently seen the balance of its local governing body shift to the far right. Now it’s about to embark on an experiment tried in few other jurisdictions across the country: counting all of its paper ballots by hand.

The county clerk warned TPM that the switch could be more problematic than the hard-right majority could have anticipated.

The Board of Supervisors in Shasta County, California, has served as a petri dish for the most noxious refuse of Trumpism over the past few years. From COVID-19 denialism to conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems, a handful of county board members have used their positions to breathe life into Trumpian conspiracy theories and grievances at the local level, pulling in MyPillow CEO and noted Trump brown-noser Mike Lindell along the way. 

It started on Aug. 11, 2020, when a local militia member Carlos Zapata hijacked a board meeting to go on a rant against COVID-19 restrictions, and threatened violence if they continued.

“Right now, we’re being peaceful, and you better be happy that we’re good citizens, that we’re peaceful citizens,” he said, “but it’s not going to be peaceful much longer, OK?”

His rant, which subsequently got attention from Alex Jones and Fox News, portended the near future: Less than a year later, a local anti-government militia led an effort to recall county supervisors who followed mitigation measures—and ultimately succeeded in ousting one of them.

Following the recall was an election later that year, which gave anti-government activists an in to try to exert more influence over the governing body. Three of their preferred candidates—Kevin Crye, Chris Kelstrom, and Board Chairman Patrick Jones—won their elections, cementing a far-right majority on the board. And among their top priorities was cutting ties with Dominion Voting Systems. None of the trio returned TPM’s requests for comment….