California Supreme Court orders GOP sheriff to pause election probe and preserve seized ballots
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a county sheriff More than half a million 2025 election ballots were confiscated The justices want to pause the investigation into allegations of election fraud while they review a legal challenge against it.
The decision follows last month’s announcement by California Attorney General Rob Bonta (Democrat). He asked the court to interveneHe argues that the sheriff has no authority over election materials. The voting rights group also opposes ballot seizures.
The dispute began earlier this year and last month when Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco 1000 boxes of election materials were seized To investigate a complaint from a local citizens group regarding vote counting for the November 2025 special election. redistricting. Local election officials told the county Board of Supervisors that the complaint was unfounded. After Bonta ordered Bianco to stop the investigation, the sheriff seized 426 more ballot boxes.
Bianco and his office “are ordered to cease the investigation into the November 2025 special election and preserve all seized items,” the resolution states.
Bonta said the order issued Wednesday was necessary to stop the sheriff’s investigation.
“What the sheriff says and what he does are often two different things,” Bonta said in a statement. “Today’s decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue Sheriff and prohibits him from continuing this investigation while our case is pending.”
Bianco’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bianco is also one of the two leading Republican gubernatorial candidates in the state. He has previously defended his investigation, saying it was approved by a district judge. The sheriff said last week: paused the probe due to increasing legal challenges.
The ballot investigation comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged the results of the 2020 election, citing unproven examples of fraud. Recently his management ballot papers and other documents were seized From an election office in Georgia. Some Republicans are echoing Trump’s rhetoric about voting in their states.
