GOP Sheriff Seizes 500K+ Ballots While Running for California Governor

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is campaigning for California governor, has confiscated over half a million ballots from a 2025 special election while claiming to investigate vote count irregularities. State officials dispute his claims and say the unprecedented action is meant to undermine election confidence.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Republican sheriff campaigning for California’s top office has confiscated more than 500,000 ballots from a recent special election, claiming he’s looking into potential counting errors that county officials say don’t exist.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced the ballot seizure during a Friday press conference, describing his investigation as stemming from concerns raised by local residents about November’s redistricting special election results.

County election administrators have challenged Bianco’s assertions, while Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta has characterized the sheriff’s actions as an extraordinary attempt to damage public confidence in electoral processes.

The contested special election saw voters endorse a proposal to redraw congressional boundaries in ways that would benefit Democratic candidates in upcoming midterm races. The initiative succeeded countywide by more than 80,000 votes.

Operating in Riverside County — an inland region home to 2.5 million residents where he has won two sheriff elections — Bianco described his efforts as “a fact-finding mission.”

“This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported,” he stated during Friday’s announcement.

Bianco represents one of two leading Republican contenders in a packed June primary featuring over six Democratic hopefuls. California’s electoral system places all candidates on a single primary ballot and advances the top two vote-getters to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation.

Prominent state Democrats express concern that their numerous candidates could divide support, potentially allowing Bianco and fellow Republican Steve Hilton to advance together — an unexpected development in the strongly Democratic state.

The sheriff insisted his investigation had “absolutely nothing to do” with his gubernatorial bid.

“I have a duty to investigate alleged crime in Riverside County,” he declared.

This action occurs amid ongoing disputes by President Donald Trump regarding 2020 election outcomes, with his administration recently confiscating ballots and documents from Georgia election offices. Several Republican officials have adopted similar rhetoric about voting procedures in their jurisdictions.

Over the past two months, Bonta has sent multiple letters to Bianco’s department arguing that his personnel lack proper qualifications to conduct ballot recounts. In correspondence, Bonta described the ballot confiscation as “unacceptable” and warned it “sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections.”

According to the letters, Bianco used a February warrant to seize nearly 1,000 boxes containing ballots and election materials from the county’s election office. The sheriff cited discrepancies reported by citizen groups between handwritten ballot intake records and official vote totals submitted to state authorities.

Bianco claimed the alleged inconsistency involved approximately 45,800 votes — a figure county election officials have disputed in public meetings, maintaining that machine counts and final state submissions differed by only about 100 votes. Officials explained that handwritten logs, which weren’t used for official verification, were maintained by temporary workers during extended shifts who may have made recording errors.

The sheriff announced Friday that counting procedures, which had previously started and paused, would now continue under court-appointed special master oversight.