California Sheriff Seizes 650,000 Ballots in Election Count Dispute with State Officials

Riverside Sheriff Seizes Election Ballots Amid Vote Count Dispute

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has seized over 650,000 ballots from California’s November special election, launching an investigation into alleged voting discrepancies that has escalated tensions between local and state officials.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate initiated the probe after a citizen watchdog group, the Riverside Election Integrity Team, claimed to have discovered approximately 45,000 excess votes in the county’s tally for Proposition 50, a measure that sought to reform California’s congressional districts to favor Democrats.

“This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes recorded,” Bianco stated during a press conference on Friday, defending his decision to take custody of the ballots despite strong opposition from state election authorities.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has challenged Bianco’s authority to conduct such an investigation, arguing that his office lacks the legal standing and expertise to review election materials.

“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections,” Weber told City News Service. “The sheriff’s assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable. The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials, and they do not have expertise in election administration.”

At the center of the dispute is Proposition 50, a significant ballot measure that passed in November’s special election. The proposition aimed to redraw California’s congressional maps in a way that political analysts say would benefit Democrats, positioned as a counterbalance to similar redistricting efforts by Republicans in Texas.

The controversy began when the Riverside Election Integrity Team, a third-party organization monitoring local elections, claimed their analysis revealed tens of thousands of excess votes in the county’s official tally. The group’s findings have been firmly rejected by county election officials, who say the activists misunderstood the vote counting process.

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco previously explained to county supervisors that the initial intake logs completed by poll workers are estimates rather than exact counts. He maintained that the final official tally was within 0.16% (approximately 103 votes) of the original estimate – well within normal margins for election administration.

Despite these explanations, Bianco pressed forward with his investigation, which has intensified the already heated political climate surrounding California’s upcoming gubernatorial race. Bianco is currently among the leading Republican candidates looking to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom.

The sheriff’s actions have drawn criticism from multiple state officials, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, whom Bianco accuses of improperly interfering with his investigation. According to the Desert Sun, Bianco claimed Friday that his office had received multiple letters from Bonta ordering him to cease the investigation.

“The outrage that an investigation was happening was extremely concerning to me, especially coming from someone who claims to be a law enforcement officer that is, I’ve said this a minimum of a thousand times, he’s an embarrassment to law enforcement,” Bianco said, referring to Bonta.

Bonta’s office has countered that they simply sought to understand the legal basis for the sheriff’s unprecedented ballot seizure rather than attempting to obstruct a legitimate investigation.

The dispute has spilled onto social media, where Bianco has engaged in public arguments with Congressman Eric Swalwell, another Democratic candidate in California’s governor’s race.

Election integrity has become an increasingly contentious issue in California and nationwide, with partisan divides deepening over claims of voting irregularities. While Republicans have pushed for greater scrutiny of voting systems and ballot handling, Democrats have generally defended existing election administration practices as secure and reliable.

Bianco’s investigation represents an unusual case of a local law enforcement official directly intervening in election matters typically handled by designated election officials and state authorities. The outcome of his investigation and the legal battles surrounding his authority to conduct it could set precedents for future disputes over election administration and oversight.

Neither Attorney General Bonta nor Secretary of State Weber responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital at the time of reporting.