Could Shasta County supervisors' voting skepticism decide who leads the elections office?

The Shasta County Board of Supervisors could appoint Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen’s replacement in the next few weeks.

Joanna Francescut, who’s worked in the county clerk/elections office for more than 15 years and has been assistant of registrar of voters since 2018, wants that job.

“We get to do great things in this office: we marry people; we help them do filings to start a business; we do passports. So, people come into our office to do really fun things,” Francescut told the Record Searchlight on Monday. “It can be a really fun environment when things are going well in the elections office, and so just having that peace of mind that you get to work and do something great every single day is why I do this work and want to continue doing this work.”

It's unclear what supervisors will do because a majority on the board — led by District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones — has been skeptical of election results and criticized the job election officials have done.

Francescut said she does not know when supervisors will appoint Darling Allen’s successor. The person who gets the job will serve the remainder of the four-year term, which goes through 2026.

Shasta County Registrar of Voters Darling Allen retiring to focus on health

Darling Allen unexpectedly announced her retirement in early February, citing health reasons and the stress of running the elections department over the past couple years.

“An essential part of recovering from this diagnosis is stress reduction. As many election officials could probably tell you right now, that’s a tough ask to balance with election administration in the current environment. I feel strongly that my family must be my priority at this time. They have already sacrificed so much, and I must repay that investment by retiring and focusing on my health,” she stated in a letter accompanying the news release.

Darling Allen said she had been diagnosed with heart failure. Her last day is May 5.

She has been county clerk/registrar of voters since 2004, when she was appointed by supervisors to replace retired Clerk Ann Reed.

Darling Allen won reelection in June 2022, collecting nearly 70% of the vote to beat challenger Bob Holsinger.

What to know about longtime Shasta elections official Joanna Francescut

Francescut said she has met with Supervisors Kevin Crye, who chairs the board, Tim Garman and Mary Rickert about her interest in the job. She declined to say what was discussed in those conversations.

“This is a local elected office, so ideally you would have a local candidate that’s best qualified for the job,” she said.

Francescut started working in the clerk/elections office in 2008. She moved up to be a systems analyst before she became assistant registrar of voters.

"In 2009, Cathy put me on a project where I got to learn GIS and mapping, and I was very heavily involved with the redistricting process in 2011. And just going through that process, just really made me understand the detail and amount of work that could have an impact on this community. I love to serve other people," she said.

Shasta County elections official gets support, opposition

Garman has little doubt who should replace Darling Allen.

“If Joanna Francescut applies, she should get the position hands down. There shouldn’t even be a debate,” he said. “She knows the staff, she knows the systems, she knows the laws, which is very important. She’s got the experience and she’s worked for a long time.”

Jones, on the other hand, has been recently been an outspoken critic of the elections office, propping up Laura Hobbs’ lawsuit against Darling Allen and District 2 supervisor-elect Allen Long. Hobbs lost to Long in the March 5 election.

As chairman of the board, Crye works with County Executive Officer David Rickert — no relation to Mary Rickert — to set meeting agendas.

There has been talk in the community that supervisors will make an appointment May 14. But Francescut said she has not heard a date.

Crye did not immediately return a text message seeking comment.

The elections office is already deep into preparations for the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.

The candidate filing period starts in July, and poll worker recruitment and determination of poll locations has started, Francescut said.

Background on Shasta supervisors' tussle with elections officer over voting machines

Darling Allen often disagreed with Jones, Crye and their peer, Supervisor Chris Kelstrom, since they voted in January 2023 to terminate the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems.

The controversial action launched their months-long crusade to eliminate voting machines and get the county to hand count all ballots in local elections.

More: Shasta officials replacing Code Red alerts. Residents must sign up for a new system

The county’s attempt to hand count ballots was thwarted by the state of California, when Gov. Gavin Newsom last October signed a law that bans the manual tally of ballots in all but the smallest counties.

Francescut said she is proud of what the elections office has done over the past year, which included creating a manual-tally ballot system from scratch, bringing on a new voting system to replace Dominion and relocating the main office from Market Street to the county administration building on Court Street in Redding.

“I’m amazed with how much we’ve been able to accomplish,” she said.

Shasta County spokesman David Maung did not reply to a phone message or email seeking information on who's applied for the clerk/registrar of voters position.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Joanna Francescut aiming for top Shasta County elections job