The California Supreme Court on Monday considered whether Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco must return election ballots he seized in March. The sheriff took approximately 650,000 ballots and 1,000 boxes of election materials from a November 2025 special election regarding redistricting. The measure in question passed by roughly 80,000 votes. Bianco initiated the seizure in response to a complaint from a local citizens group alleging counting discrepancies, though local election officials previously determined the complaint lacked merit.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, filed an immediate legal challenge in March, contending the sheriff lacks authority over election materials and characterizing the seizure as intended to undermine public confidence in elections. Bonta ordered Bianco to return the ballots, which the sheriff declined to do. The UCLA Voting Rights Project also sued on behalf of several Riverside County voters. The state Supreme Court considered arguments in both cases. At the time of the seizure, Bianco was running for governor as a Republican in a crowded primary, though he did not advance to the general election and subsequently announced plans to seek reelection as sheriff in 2028.
Chard Dunn, legal director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, argued before the court that established legal mechanisms exist for contesting election results and that Bianco failed to follow them. Dunn stated that ballot handling by sheriffs and their deputies outside normal procedures was unprecedented in election law. Bianco’s attorney, Bradley Hertz, countered that the sheriff had a legal obligation to investigate the complaint and followed penal code procedures by issuing search warrants in February. Hertz characterized the ballots as evidence being held in custody for the court and cited ongoing legal proceedings as justification for not complying with Bonta’s return order.
Bianco initiated a recount using sheriff’s officials under supervision of a court-appointed special master but suspended the effort days later due to mounting legal challenges. The case emerged amid broader national tensions over election integrity. President Donald Trump has repeatedly contested the results of the 2020 election citing unsubstantiated fraud claims, and his administration recently seized ballots and documents from an election office in Georgia. Some Republicans have adopted similar rhetoric regarding voting in their respective states.
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