The Shasta County elections office has seen another resignation. Tanner Johnson, a poll worker, is the latest to leave his position, citing low pay, harassment, safety issues and what he describes as disruptive behavior by County Supervisor Kevin Crye as reasons for his departure. Johnson’s resignation highlights growing concerns about the working conditions and personal safety of election workers in the county as they face increasing harassment from election skeptics.

Last year, 10 of 21 poll workers quit, according to the Shasta County elections office.

In an emotional statement, Johnson shared his frustration and exhaustion over the constant accusations and harassment. “We are just normal people. We just want to do our job. We are not here scheming and trying to rig the election. “We’re just trying to get by,” Johnson explained. His departure underlines the challenging climate of feeling harassed, underpaid and often unsupported. According to Johnson, threats from election skeptics have become a disturbing routine for workers like him.

“They’re pretty terrible,” Johnson said. “They will threaten to sue if they don’t get their way, they will sue for non-compliance with the ADA if we don’t get them chairs to sit in.” He painted a picture of a workplace filled with tension and frequent threats of legal action, which has left him and his colleagues feeling vulnerable.

Johnson’s resignation follows an incident in early October involving Shasta County Supervisor Kevin Crye. Crye, who allegedly exhibited erratic behavior during a routine logic and accuracy test of voting machines, allegedly waved ballots in the air, asked people if they didn’t like him and pressured another supervisor to move protective barriers closer to where he was. the ballots are counted. According to Johnson, this interference jeopardized the safety of poll workers by placing them closer to the public, intensifying their exposure to potential threats.

Crye, however, denies the allegations, calling them outlandish, fabricated and full of lies. He insists he doesn’t know who Johnson is and doesn’t remember the day going the way Johnson described it. Crye says he was having a good day and getting along well with election workers and supervisors, and encourages people to request surveillance footage to see for themselves. Crye went on to say that he thinks the elections office is doing a great job with the election so far. Crye says he was not aware that Johnson or any other employee went to Registrar of Voters Tom Toller to report their complaints. However, Toller confirmed that he had received some reports about Crye’s behavior. “I noticed some behavior,” Toller said. “I wasn’t aware of the level of concern and I wasn’t aware of the number of cases.”

Following these revelations, Toller assured the public that he intends to investigate the situation further, suggesting that new policies could be introduced if necessary. It highlighted its commitment to the safety and well-being of its employees and acknowledged that it had heard reports of harassment. On the other hand, Johnson says that 6 employees, including himself, reported the incident to Toller. According to Johnson, Toller said:

“Basically, there’s not much we can do about supervisors, we just have to treat them with kid gloves.”

When asked about this comment, Toller said:

“If I told my staff to treat the supervisors with kid gloves, I wanted to convey that the supervisors are legitimate executive authorities of this county and that they deserve due respect due to their position,” he clarified.

When asked if any other employees had been threatened, Toller could not comment further, citing personnel confidentiality rules.

As the Shasta County elections office prepares for the upcoming election, Tanner Johnson’s resignation—and the circumstances that preceded it—have highlighted the conditions that poll workers face not only locally but also nationally.