Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Shasta Registrar Clint Curtis to Produce June Primary Ballots
Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis has been ordered to appear before a federal grand jury in Sacramento on September 24, 2026, and to bring original paper ballots and related records from the June 2 primary election.
The subpoena, issued September 10 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, commands Curtis to testify at the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse and to produce materials held under California Elections Code Section 17301. An attachment specifies original paper records only—no digital copies without prior approval—and requires a Rule 902(11) certification.
The listed items include:
Voted polling-place ballots
Paper cast-vote records
Voted vote-by-mail ballots
Vote-by-mail identification envelopes
Voted provisional and conditional-registration ballots and their envelopes
Spoiled and canceled ballots
Unused vote-by-mail ballots surrendered by voters
Questions are directed to FBI Special Agent Jennifer Anderson.
Curtis received the demand on September 10 and has said he welcomes federal scrutiny. “It’s a great thing. That means they’re interested,” he told local reporters. “I am fully cooperative.” He has asked that FBI or DHS agents collect the materials themselves rather than require county staff to transport tens of thousands of ballots to Sacramento, citing chain-of-custody concerns.
Curtis and some of the election processors from the June election, including Ron Plumb, described irregularities they said they observed while handling mail and drop-box ballots: differences in paper thickness and texture, an “inky” smell on some cards, and vote-target squares that appeared perfectly filled with no pen indentations, as if printed or copied. They said the anomalies did not appear on in-person Election Day ballots. Affidavits describing these observations were circulated. Curtis locked the storage room, destroyed the key, and posted signs stating access would require a warrant and bolt cutters.
A California law enacted this year restricts removing ballots from election officials’ custody, which could complicate physical transfer. Curtis has said he prefers federal agents take custody on site. The September 24 appearance will determine how the grand jury proceeds with inspection or sampling of the records.
Shasta Unfiltered will continue to follow the case as the production date approaches.
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