(From the article): “A California sheriff, who is also a gubernatorial candidate, has seized more than half a million ballots from a November special election, citing an investigation into an alleged ballot count discrepancy.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, took possession of the ballots from county election officials, who have publicly disputed his claims.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, condemned Bianco’s actions as unprecedented, suggesting they are intended to undermine public trust in the electoral process.
Sheriff Bianco held a news conference on Friday, stating his office initiated the probe following a complaint from a local citizens group regarding the ballot count from a November 2025 special election focused on redistricting.
In that special election, voters approved a measure to redraw congressional district lines, a move designed to benefit Democrats in the upcoming midterm election. The measure passed within the county by a significant margin of over 80,000 votes.
Bianco seized ballots in Riverside County, the inland California county of 2.5 million people where he has twice been elected sheriff. He called the effort “a fact-finding mission.”
“This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported,” he said Friday.
Bianco is one of two prominent Republicans running for governor in a crowded June primary that includes more than half a dozen Democrats. California runs a top-two primary system that puts all candidates on the same ballot, regardless of party, and sends the two candidates who get the most voters onto the November general election.
Leading California Democrats are worried that their party has so many candidates, they risk splitting the vote and sending Bianco and Steve Hilton, another top Republican, onto the general election. That would be a stunning outcome in the heavily Democratic state.
Bianco said the investigation had “absolutely nothing to do” with his campaign for governor.
“I have a duty to investigate alleged crime in Riverside County,” he said.
The effort came as President Donald Trump has repeatedly disputed the results of the 2020 election, citing unsubstantiated instances of fraud. His administration recently seized ballots and other documents from an election office in Georgia. Some Republicans have mirrored Trump’s rhetoric on voting in their states.
Bonta has repeatedly sent letters to Bianco’s office over the last two months saying his staff is not qualified to conduct a recount. In one of the letters, Bonta wrote that the ballot seizure was “unacceptable” and “sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections.”
The letters said Bianco seized nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots and elections materials from the county’s elections office with a warrant in February. At issue, Bianco said, is a discrepancy a citizen group reported between the handwritten ballot intake logs and the number of votes reported to the state.
Bianco said the alleged discrepancy amounted to about 45,800 votes — a difference elections officials have refuted at county meetings, saying the machine count and the final count submitted to the state differed by about 100 votes. They argue the handwritten rolls, which were not relied on to check the count, were being kept by temporary elections workers who had worked long days and may have made mistakes.
Bianco said Friday that the count had started and stopped, but would now resume under the supervision of a special master appointed by a judge.”
stalinspetmongoose on
Can y’all please just stop cheating. You absurd little b*tch boys.
Paul_Smith_Hi on
Riverside.
Checks out.
BigHungryFlamingo on
Arrest the motherfucker.
LuvKrahft on
Bounce his ass out of his law enforcement position, this is abuse of office and voter intimidation.
no-more-depravity on
Imagine if a Democrat did this.
CheesecakeSea6471 on
Wait until he finds out most of the ‘errors’ we’re in his favor.
bretteiznem on
Looking for a hanging chad?
SadLeek9950 on
The only ones I see that are attempting to rig or steal elections are Republicans.
mikeysce on
I’m sorry, a *candidate* seized ballots? And they’re not in jail yet?
Joe18067 on
This guy is another trump wanna be. And the Democrats need to get their act together and the less popular candidates step aside or we will have another crazy clown running the state.
Radiant-Vegetable420 on
>Bianco said the investigation had “absolutely nothing to do” with his campaign for governor.
I call total bullshit..
Wave_File on
Where’s Gavin Newsom with the CA natl guard to arrest this guy. If He’s one of them “constitutional Sherriff” disciples then he’s a delusional, extra-legal, proto facist mf who needs to be brought back down to earth with time in a cell.
Doom-Sleigher on
MAGA is for cheaters
someMeatballs on
This is a federal election crime.
And I think it might backfire.
GreyBeardEng on
A currently serving sheriff does not have the legal authority to seize ballots or to seize voting equipment.
For the purposes of an election this man is only a regular citizen who is a candidate. Seizing these ballots is a criminal action, and should be treated as such. He should be stripped of his star and hauled before a judge.
It’s time for Rob Bonta to take swift action against this man.
feignapathy on
feels like this would be outside of the scope of his authority
surely the county, state, or a judge can step in?
FlexFanatic on
I have read a couple of articles Les about this but still don’t understand how he was able to seize the ballots.
It just says an investigation was launched so is it because he is the current sheriff
MrFunktasticc on
So the California DA and Governor are just…chillin’?
Bigweld_Ind on
He is the candidate on the ballots he seized. He should be removed immediately by the county or state. This is an obvious conflict of interest and no controls have been put in place to prevent fraud when the guy who lost the election recounts his own ballots.
gcwardii on
So ask for a recount?
Ballots should *never* leave election officials’ custody
Icy_Baker9068 on
So he is seizing ballots. Has no state of CA power of any kind. He’s just a candidate. Shouldn’t he be arrested and investigated?
wasabi1787 on
I’m so confused by his Wikipedia page given this news:
”
In June 2020, Bianco showed support for Black Lives Matter and knelt with protestors, during the George Floyd protests.[31]
In June 2024, Bianco sarcastically endorsed Donald Trump for President, saying “It’s time we put a felon in the White House. Trump 2024, baby. Let’s save this country and make America great again,” referring to Trump’s felony conviction in May 2024. [32]
“
daguro on
He’s probably one of those “constitutional sheriffs” who think they get to interpret the constitution however they see fit.
Democracy doesn’t die in darkness.
You can see democracy dying in the light of day.
KnotSoSalty on
As is typical; a Republicans commit a blatant crime, a Democrat responds with a letter.
pizzlepullerofkberg on
That should warrant an arrest on the state level so Bianco could never get pardoned by Trump. Let’s go Bonta.
Kevin-W on
This is just a dress rehearsal for what’s going to happen in November.
27 Comments
(From the article): “A California sheriff, who is also a gubernatorial candidate, has seized more than half a million ballots from a November special election, citing an investigation into an alleged ballot count discrepancy.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, took possession of the ballots from county election officials, who have publicly disputed his claims.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, condemned Bianco’s actions as unprecedented, suggesting they are intended to undermine public trust in the electoral process.
Sheriff Bianco held a news conference on Friday, stating his office initiated the probe following a complaint from a local citizens group regarding the ballot count from a November 2025 special election focused on redistricting.
In that special election, voters approved a measure to redraw congressional district lines, a move designed to benefit Democrats in the upcoming midterm election. The measure passed within the county by a significant margin of over 80,000 votes.
Bianco seized ballots in Riverside County, the inland California county of 2.5 million people where he has twice been elected sheriff. He called the effort “a fact-finding mission.”
“This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported,” he said Friday.
Bianco is one of two prominent Republicans running for governor in a crowded June primary that includes more than half a dozen Democrats. California runs a top-two primary system that puts all candidates on the same ballot, regardless of party, and sends the two candidates who get the most voters onto the November general election.
Leading California Democrats are worried that their party has so many candidates, they risk splitting the vote and sending Bianco and Steve Hilton, another top Republican, onto the general election. That would be a stunning outcome in the heavily Democratic state.
Bianco said the investigation had “absolutely nothing to do” with his campaign for governor.
“I have a duty to investigate alleged crime in Riverside County,” he said.
The effort came as President Donald Trump has repeatedly disputed the results of the 2020 election, citing unsubstantiated instances of fraud. His administration recently seized ballots and other documents from an election office in Georgia. Some Republicans have mirrored Trump’s rhetoric on voting in their states.
Bonta has repeatedly sent letters to Bianco’s office over the last two months saying his staff is not qualified to conduct a recount. In one of the letters, Bonta wrote that the ballot seizure was “unacceptable” and “sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections.”
The letters said Bianco seized nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots and elections materials from the county’s elections office with a warrant in February. At issue, Bianco said, is a discrepancy a citizen group reported between the handwritten ballot intake logs and the number of votes reported to the state.
Bianco said the alleged discrepancy amounted to about 45,800 votes — a difference elections officials have refuted at county meetings, saying the machine count and the final count submitted to the state differed by about 100 votes. They argue the handwritten rolls, which were not relied on to check the count, were being kept by temporary elections workers who had worked long days and may have made mistakes.
Bianco said Friday that the count had started and stopped, but would now resume under the supervision of a special master appointed by a judge.”
Can y’all please just stop cheating. You absurd little b*tch boys.
Riverside.
Checks out.
Arrest the motherfucker.
Bounce his ass out of his law enforcement position, this is abuse of office and voter intimidation.
Imagine if a Democrat did this.
Wait until he finds out most of the ‘errors’ we’re in his favor.
Looking for a hanging chad?
The only ones I see that are attempting to rig or steal elections are Republicans.
I’m sorry, a *candidate* seized ballots? And they’re not in jail yet?
This guy is another trump wanna be. And the Democrats need to get their act together and the less popular candidates step aside or we will have another crazy clown running the state.
>Bianco said the investigation had “absolutely nothing to do” with his campaign for governor.
I call total bullshit..
Where’s Gavin Newsom with the CA natl guard to arrest this guy. If He’s one of them “constitutional Sherriff” disciples then he’s a delusional, extra-legal, proto facist mf who needs to be brought back down to earth with time in a cell.
MAGA is for cheaters
This is a federal election crime.
And I think it might backfire.
A currently serving sheriff does not have the legal authority to seize ballots or to seize voting equipment.
For the purposes of an election this man is only a regular citizen who is a candidate. Seizing these ballots is a criminal action, and should be treated as such. He should be stripped of his star and hauled before a judge.
It’s time for Rob Bonta to take swift action against this man.
feels like this would be outside of the scope of his authority
surely the county, state, or a judge can step in?
I have read a couple of articles Les about this but still don’t understand how he was able to seize the ballots.
It just says an investigation was launched so is it because he is the current sheriff
So the California DA and Governor are just…chillin’?
He is the candidate on the ballots he seized. He should be removed immediately by the county or state. This is an obvious conflict of interest and no controls have been put in place to prevent fraud when the guy who lost the election recounts his own ballots.
So ask for a recount?
Ballots should *never* leave election officials’ custody
So he is seizing ballots. Has no state of CA power of any kind. He’s just a candidate. Shouldn’t he be arrested and investigated?
I’m so confused by his Wikipedia page given this news:
”
In June 2020, Bianco showed support for Black Lives Matter and knelt with protestors, during the George Floyd protests.[31]
In June 2024, Bianco sarcastically endorsed Donald Trump for President, saying “It’s time we put a felon in the White House. Trump 2024, baby. Let’s save this country and make America great again,” referring to Trump’s felony conviction in May 2024. [32]
“
He’s probably one of those “constitutional sheriffs” who think they get to interpret the constitution however they see fit.
Democracy doesn’t die in darkness.
You can see democracy dying in the light of day.
As is typical; a Republicans commit a blatant crime, a Democrat responds with a letter.
That should warrant an arrest on the state level so Bianco could never get pardoned by Trump. Let’s go Bonta.
This is just a dress rehearsal for what’s going to happen in November.