US EditionUCLA Sues to Stop Riverside County Sheriff's Election Investigation
The lawsuit challenges Sheriff Bianco’s seizure and recount of over 600,000 ballots as violating California election laws governing vote handling and counting.
- On Thursday, March 26, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project filed separate legal petitions seeking to halt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's investigation into ballots from the November 2025 special election.
- Sheriff Bianco seized more than 656,000 ballots earlier this year, citing a local watchdog group's claim of a 45,000-vote discrepancy. The sheriff maintains his probe is a lawful, judge-approved investigation into alleged irregularities.
- Attorneys for the UCLA project argue Bianco lacks legal authority to remove ballots from the Registrar of Voters' office. Secretary of State Shirley Weber questioned whether the department has adequate election administration expertise.
- Dismissing the legal challenges as politically motivated, Bianco—a Republican gubernatorial candidate—characterized them as attacks from "failed Democratic candidates." Former state attorney general Xavier Becerra countered that removing ballots from trained staff undermines public trust in elections.
- A hearing on the petition is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. today, March 27, in Riverside Superior Court. The court will determine whether the sheriff's office must pause the ballot recount pending legal review.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco seizes more ballots, defying California officials who ordered him to stop
Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff and a leading GOP candidate for governor, has escalated his fight with California Attorney General, continuing his "fact finding mission" into unsubstantiated voter fraud.
California and a voting rights group filed legal challenges to stop GOP sheriff’s ballot seizure
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's Democratic attorney general and a voting rights group launched legal challenges this week to halt a seizure and recount of more than half a million 2025 election ballots by a Republican county sheriff who is…
Santa Maria Times
California and a voting rights group filed legal challenges to stop GOP sheriff's ballot seizure
The California attorney general and a voting right groups have launched two legal challenges to halt a ballot seizure by a Republican sheriff in Riverside County. The dispute began last month when Sheriff Chad Bianco took some 650,000 ballots from…
Cal Matters
California sheriff says his seizure of more than 600,000 ballots is ‘normal law enforcement’
In summary Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco says it’s coincidence he got a California ballot seizure warrant from a judge who praised him and whom he endorsed in 2022. Riverside County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco denied any wrongdoing after his office gained permission to seize and recount hundreds of thousands of ballots from a judge who has publicly praised him, calling it purely coincidental. “It’s impossible to kn…
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