California Sheriff Seizes Ballots Amid Controversy
A sheriff from California, who is also running as a Republican candidate for governor, took possession of over 650,000 ballots from the state’s November 2025 election during the weekend. This move is part of a voter fraud investigation, yet investigators have pointed out that he was not authorized to do so.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is focusing on the contentious Proposition 50 special election, following claims from the Riverside Election Integrity Team about discovering approximately 45,000 additional votes in the county.
California election officials have dismissed the team’s findings. However, Sheriff Bianco stated that his office will carry out a recount to verify the organization’s assertions.
“It’s a straightforward process: we’ll physically count the ballots and compare those results to the total recorded votes,” Bianco mentioned during a press conference on Friday.
Proposition 50, a significant initiative driven by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, aimed to redraw California’s congressional districts to benefit Democrats and counter a similar Republican effort in Texas.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber argued that Bianco lacked the authority to proceed with the recount.
“The actions of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office were based on unverified allegations and could undermine public trust in our elections,” Weber explained.
She added, “While it’s commendable that the sheriff believes he knows how to count, the reality is that he and his deputies are not election officials and lack the expertise in election administration.”
Riverside Elections Director Art Tinoco previously dismissed the claims made by the Riverside Election Integrity Team, stating that the group misunderstood how votes were tallied on Election Day.
The report noted that Tinoco had informed county supervisors that the initial ballots collected by poll workers were meant to be estimates, not precise counts. He mentioned that the final tally was only 0.16% off, equating to just 103 votes over the initial estimate.
Even though the Integrity Team maintains their methods were valid, the ongoing disagreement led Bianco to initiate his own investigation. Bianco accused California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, of attempting to meddle in his investigation. Bonta, however, contended that his office was merely seeking clarity on the investigation’s grounds.
The attorney general stated, “We’ve tried to collaborate with the Sheriff’s Office to understand the basis for their investigation, including reviewing the warrant and requesting the complete investigation file. We made these requests under the Attorney General’s oversight authority over county sheriffs.”
Bonta further shared that the sheriff’s office has been slow to provide most requested documents and raised concerns about the legal shortcomings in the affidavit supporting the warrant, highlighting missing essential facts.
Bianco claimed on Friday that he has received multiple letters from Bonta demanding a halt to the election inquiry. He described Bonta as “an embarrassment to law enforcement” and expressed concern that the attorney general might be displeased with efforts to investigate election integrity.
