Telepeer

Riverside County sheriff’s seize more election materials in ballot investigation

March 27, 2026

Continuing to defy California’s attorney general, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s department seized more election materials this week as part of an investigation into an alleged — critics say debunked — discrepancy in ballots cast by county voters in the November 2025 special election, state lawyers said.

A brief hearing took place Thursday morning, March 27, in a Riverside courtroom on Attorney General Rob Bonta’s bid to pause Bianco’s probe into the Proposition 50 election. No ruling was made and another hearing is scheduled for May 27.

In a court filing Thursday, Bonta’s office said the sheriff’s office seized another 426 ballots of ballot materials Tuesday, March 24.

This is in addition to the approximately 1,000 boxes of ballot materials Bianco’s investigators seized, and the latest seizure completes the execution of three search warrants obtained by Bianco’s department, according to Bonta’s lawyers.

Bianco’s probe has led to the seizure of more than 656,000 ballots cast by county voters in November, from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters in an investigation that’s become entangled in partisan politics, with Bianco, a 2026 Republican candidate for governor, taking on Bonta, a Democrat.

Proposition 50 was a statewide ballot measure that redrew California’s congressional districts to favor Democrats. It passed with 64% of the vote throughout California and 56% of the vote in Riverside County.

The sheriff’s investigation, which is making national headlines, stems from a Riverside citizen’s election watchdog group’s allegation of a 45,000-gap between ballots cast in Riverside County and ballots received in last November’s election.

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco denied the gap was that large, putting the actual gap at 103 votes — well within the margin of error set by California’s Secretary of State.

Bianco has said that his office, under a court-appointed special master, will count all the ballots cast in Riverside County in November to see if the 45,000-vote gap exists and if so, why.

Bonta disputed Bianco’s assertion that a court-appointed special master is overseeing the count.

A Thursday, March 19, search warrant “did not in fact order a recount or special master,” according to a footnote in the attorney general’s legal filing. “(I)t merely authorized the seizure of the same materials as two prior search warrants did, but with an enhanced (and still deficient) explanation of probable cause.”

The investigation faces pushback from Bonta and other Democratic officials, who see it as a fishing expedition that threatens the public’s confidence in democracy.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office argued that Bianco’s team lacks the skills and experience to handle ballots. Bianco said his investigators know how to count.

Bonta went to court this week to seek a pause in the investigation. Three appellate judges denied Bonta’s request, saying it had to be filed in Riverside Superior court.

As a result, Bonta’s office filed its petition in Riverside. In it, lawyers accuse Bianco of violating the attorney general’s directive “to pause all work on the investigation and provide the Attorney General” with documents “so he could better understand the basis of the investigation and work with the Sheriff to decide the best course of action.”

Bianco has denounced Bonta, who’s also investigating his department for alleged civil rights violations, as “an embarrassment to law enforcement” and accused the attorney general of interfering in a lawful investigation.

In addition to Bonta, the UCLA Voting Rights Project is also concerned about Bianco’s investigation. It asked the California Supreme Court this week to force the sheriff to return the seized ballots to the registrar.

The project filed an additional brief with the court upon learning Bianco seized the additional 426 boxes of ballot materials, the project said in a news release Friday, March 27.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Orange County Register

News Details

Riverside County sheriff’s seize more election materials in ballot investigation

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS