California Sheriff Investigates November Election Ballots Amid Dispute

Sun Mar 22 2026 20:01:08 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has seized over half a million ballots as part of an investigation into alleged discrepancies in the November special election. State officials claim this move undermines public trust in elections.

California Sheriff Chad Bianco has initiated an inquiry into over 500,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election, raising controversy over the integrity of the electoral process. Defending his actions, Bianco alleges discrepancies in ballot counts reported by local election officials, which they dispute. State Attorney General Rob Bonta criticizes Bianco's actions as unprecedented and detrimental to election trust. Bianco aims to count the ballots to resolve the reported inconsistency of nearly 46,000 votes, which officials claim is exaggerated.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County, currently a Republican candidate for governor, has taken the unprecedented step of seizing over half a million ballots from the local elections office. His intent is to investigate alleged discrepancies in ballot counts from a special election held in November 2025.

Bianco's actions come after complaints from a local citizens group regarding the integrity of the reported ballot counts. The election in question was pivotal, with voters approving a measure to realign congressional district boundaries significantly favoring the Democratic Party.

Across a population of 2.5 million in Riverside County, the sheriff proclaimed his investigation a fact-finding mission, stating, We need to validate the ballot counts against the numbers reported. We must ensure that every vote is counted correctly. However, election officials have countered his claims, arguing that the discrepancies are minimal and likely stem from clerical errors among temporary workers.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has swiftly condemned Bianco's actions as harmful to public trust in the electoral process, emphasizing that such measures should not be carried out without qualified oversight. In a series of letters, Bonta informed Bianco that his office lacks the necessary qualifications to conduct a recount and characterized the ballot seizure as a dangerous precedent that could erode public confidence in future elections.

The controversy echoes ripples from past national elections where assertions of electoral fraud were proliferated without solid evidence, particularly during Trump’s administration. In response to Bianco's claims, Bonta has repeatedly stated that the discrepancies he cites amount to merely a hundred votes, not the nearly 46,000 Bianco suggests.

As the inquiry progresses, Bianco asserts that the counting of ballots will continue under the oversight of a special master appointed by a judge, aiming to clarify the disputed results. The sheriff's actions could have far-reaching implications, particularly as California heads into a competitive gubernatorial primary, where Bianco is vying for attention amidst a crowded field of both Republican and Democrat candidates.