Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors is backing Assembly Bill 2604, a proposal that would create a statewide process for voters to fix unsigned or signature-mismatched vote-by-mail ballots.
In a July 14 letter to Assemblymember Marc Berman, the board said signature verification should remain a core safeguard in mail voting, but argued that eligible voters should have a uniform way to cure ballot-envelope problems.
The letter says AB 2604 would establish a consistent statewide curing process, including text-message-based options that some California counties and Colorado already use. It says the Secretary of State would implement the system under the bill as amended, so it would operate the same way in all 58 counties.
Shasta County framed the measure as both an election-integrity safeguard and a way to speed up the canvass. The letter says a fast curing process could resolve outstanding signature issues sooner and help finalize results more quickly.
Chris Kelstrom signed the letter as board chair on behalf of the county. Copies were sent to a number of legislative and county organizations, including the California State Association of Counties and the Rural County Representatives of California.
The record provided with the letter does not show whether the board took a separate recorded vote on the support position or whether any supervisors opposed it.
