Under Pressure, Sheriff Who Seized Ballots Halts Probe
Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP,
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has paused his investigation into alleged irregularities in California’s Proposition 50 special election after legal challenges and objections from state officials.
Bianco, a Republican who is also running for governor, had taken possession of more than 650,000 ballots from the November election in Riverside County. He said the ballots were seized so his office could investigate a discrepancy in the reported vote totals. The county has about 2.5 million residents.
The investigation began after a citizens group filed a complaint questioning the ballot count from the November 2025 special election on redistricting. In that election, voters approved a measure to redraw congressional district boundaries in a way that favors Democrats ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. The proposal passed in Riverside County by more than 80,000 votes.
Bianco said the purpose of the investigation was straightforward: physically recount the ballots and compare that number with the official vote totals. He also said the probe was unrelated to his campaign for governor.
However, Riverside County election officials disputed the sheriff’s claims about discrepancies. California Attorney General Rob Bonta criticized Bianco’s actions, calling them unprecedented and arguing they could undermine confidence in elections. Bonta sent several letters to the sheriff’s office stating that law enforcement personnel were not qualified to conduct an election recount.
The dispute escalated into a legal battle. Bonta ordered Bianco to stop the investigation and later asked the California Supreme Court to enforce that directive, describing the situation as an “unprecedented constitutional emergency.” According to reports, no claims of election fraud connected to the case have been confirmed.
Bianco announced Monday that the investigation is now on hold, citing what he described as politically motivated lawsuits and court filings. Earlier in the process, he had said the ballot count had started, stopped, and was expected to continue under the oversight of a court-appointed special master.
For now, the seized ballots remain at the center of an ongoing legal dispute between the sheriff’s office and state authorities.
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