The California Supreme Court has ruled Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco broke the law when he seized around 650,000 ballots from county elections officials. In a unanimous decision, the justices ordered Bianco to return the ballots to the custody of the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
The ruling issued Thursday, Sept. 24, confirms an aspect of state law that had been brought into dispute by the sheriff's investigation. Bianco argued in court that the state penal code, rather than the election code, governed his actions. The justices found otherwise.
"We hold that the seizure of the ballots was unlawful. California law long has recognized that voted ballots require special care and handling to safeguard them from alteration or tampering," Chief
Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote in the opinion. "Consistent with this principle, the Elections Code narrowly limits the circumstances in which a court may order the production of ballots for inspection, and even in those narrow circumstances, requires that ballots remain in the physical custody of the responsible elections official."
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Why did Bianco seize Riverside County ballots?
Deputies of the Riverside County Sheriff's Office seized around 650,000 ballots in March of this year related to an investigation into election fraud during the Proposition 50 election, which redrew congressional maps in favor of Democrats in response to Republican efforts in other states.
Bianco was responding to a group calling itself the Riverside Election Integrity Team, which had filed a complaint with the department. The complaint alleged 45,896 more ballots were counted than were documented on election night for the Nov. 4, 2025 election.
As the investigation began, Bianco was running for governor as a Republican. The Riverside Election Integrity Team has been tied by some media organizations to a national right wing movement focusing on election integrity.
Bianco has stated he hoped to review the ballot count to ensure no fraud has occurred. But county and state officials have opposed the removal of the ballots from their secure locations into the custody of the sheriff's office, which has no experience counting ballots.
Who sued the sheriff's office?
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project each filed lawsuits opposing Bianco's ballot seizure. Each lawsuit challenged Bianco's actions on separate issues, but the Supreme Court heard them both consecutively.
The Attorney General argued Bianco ignored a direct mandate to return the ballots to the custody of county elections officials. The California Constitution grants the attorney general authority over local law enforcement agencies, but the statute has rarely been used or adjudicated.
Both the attorney general and county sheriffs are elected positions, leading to a potential legal clash.
The other lawsuit, filed by the UCLA Voting Rights Project contends Bianco violated the state's election code by removing the ballots from the Registrar of Voters. The elections code states "in no event" shall elections material be taken from the custody of the elections officials.
However, Bianco's attorney argued in court the penal code rather than the elections code applied to this case.
What is the UCLA Voting Rights Project?
The UCLA Voting Rights Project is a project of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs that was established to protect equal voting rights through litigation, research and advocacy.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Sheriff's seizure of ballots ruled illegal by California Supreme Court
