California Supreme Court orders sheriff to return 650,000 seized ballots
California's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco broke the law when his deputies seized around 650,000 ballots, ordering them returned — and affirming the attorney general's power over sheriffs.
The California Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco broke the law when his deputies seized around 650,000 ballots from county elections officials, ordering the ballots returned to the custody of the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
The ruling, issued on Thursday, rejected Bianco’s argument that the state penal code — rather than the elections code — permitted the seizure. “We hold that the seizure of the ballots was unlawful,” Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote. “California law long has recognized that voted ballots require special care and handling to safeguard them from alteration or tampering.”
Deputies seized the ballots in March as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in the November 4, 2025 Proposition 50 special election on congressional redistricting. The complaint, from a group calling itself the Riverside Election Integrity Team, alleged 45,896 more ballots were counted than documented as received on election night; the county registrar said the claim was unfounded and based on a misunderstanding of election-day counting.
In a second unanimous ruling, the court held that Attorney General Rob Bonta had the authority to order Bianco to halt the investigation — an order the sheriff had ignored. The justices directed Bianco to stop the investigation so the attorney general’s office can review the matter, while retaining the other records seized.
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