CA is asking the court to stop the Riverside Sheriff’s Office from seizing 2,025 ballots

from Kayla Michalovich and Jeanne KuangCalMatters

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Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a California court to stop the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation alleged voter fraud from the November 2025 special election.

In an unprecedented move, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican who is running for governorseized approximately 650,000 ballots and began a recount. At a press conference on Friday, he characterized the investigation as a “fact-finding mission” that aims “as much to prove that the election was accurate as to show otherwise.”

Bianco is tied with Republican Steve Hilton for the lead in the governor’s race, polls show.

This month, Bonta’s office ordered Bianco and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department to stand down, citing “serious concerns” about the legality of the criminal investigation.

The state Department of Justice has instructed the sheriff’s department to share any information that may substantiate its concerns in order to understand the basis for the investigation.

Those orders were disregarded, according to court documents. The lawsuit in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, filed Monday, asks the court to intervene to “prevent further abuse of the criminal process.”

“The sheriff has not identified any specific crime that anyone may have committed — a necessary predicate to obtaining a search warrant,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement to CalMatters. “The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is neither equipped nor legally authorized to act as an election watchdog. It appears this investigation is little more than a fishing expedition designed to sow distrust and undermine public confidence in our elections.”

Bonta took particular issue with the affidavits Bianco made to a Riverside County judge to obtain warrants allowing him to seize the ballots. The sheriff obtained two warrants in February and another last week after receiving a complaint about ballot discrepancies from a group of Riverside County citizens. Bonta said the sheriff’s department affidavits reviewed by his office did not establish sufficient probable cause to warrant the seizure of election materials.

None of the affidavits or evidence presented by Bianco can be viewed by the public because the orders are under seal in Riverside County Superior Court and were redacted in Bonta’s court filings in the matter. The orders were approved by Judge Jay Keel, a former prosecutor who is running for the seat in 2022 with Bianco’s support.

In a statement to CalMatters, Bianco criticized Bonta, a Democrat who has been the state’s top law enforcement official since 2021.

“Questions should only be directed at Bonta. Why would you step in and obstruct an investigation instead of helping? What are you afraid of? Bonta is a corrupt political activist hired by Gavin Newsom to cover up corruption in Sacramento,” Bianco said.

Voter fraud is rare in California and nationwide, according to surveys found. A database maintained by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization that often highlights the issue, shows just 71 cases of voter fraud convictions in California over the past 32 years. California counted more than 11.5 million ballots in the November special election alone.

Last week, Bianco said his years-long study of voting systems in Riverside County “did not find any massive fraud.” He said he uncovered “isolated incidents” that he referred to local prosecutors. It’s unclear if any have resulted in charges.

Kim Nalder, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, called Bianco’s ballot seizure “extremely troubling to see a local sheriff step into an area that shouldn’t really be his jurisdiction.” In particular, she pointed out that election officials usually have rules about who can handle the ballots, but the seizure broke that “chain of custody.”

“Any recount would have many guarantees of manipulation,” she said. “There’s no guarantee of that at this stage, even if the state manages to stop them moving forward.”

Kayla Michalovich is a contributor to California Local News.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.