Curtis has been known in election integrity circles since claiming that he developed a software to hack voting machines in 2000 at the request of the Florida state lawmaker Tom Feeney. He was reportedly interviewed by the FBI and spoke to Congress about his claims. Feeney, who Curtis ran against for a congressional seat, as well as his employer, denied those allegations.

Curtis, who previously ran for Congress as a Democrat, told the board of supervisors he felt compelled to “fix” elections because of the software he claimed to develop. “I broke it so I better fix it,” he said.

He said had a plan to secure elections in Shasta county by installing cameras and filming every step of the process so its integrity can be verified.

He also mentioned his appearances on the shows of Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn and Mike Lindell and said he had worked in elections law for years, citing consulting work with governments in Germany and the Netherlands about hand-counting (although he declined to provide contact information for people who could verify such work or other clients to the local outlet A News Cafe.) That same outlet reported that he appeared to have lied on his application for the role. Curtis also said he had worked on the Kamala Harris ballot audit when she ran for attorney general in California.