The real questions for courts after Bianco seized Riverside County ballots
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says he wants to be our governor, but it increasingly seems to me that the far-right provocateur’s real goal is simply to become MAGA famous.
Very cool. No problem. Honestly, who in Southern California hasn’t dreamed of 15 minutes? And he certainly has police mustache play the role rogue Wild West lawman.
But Bianco’s push for fame could help extremists overthrow American elections, and that’s a problem; It’s a problem that California needs to fix quickly before the midterms suffer from his antics. There are two separate issues at stake here, and both state courts will be asked to weigh in in the coming days – it appears Bianco is putting his so-called investigation on hold until these cases bring some clarity and, hopefully, sanity.
First, California sheriffs I can answer everyoneOr are these a law in themselves? Second, Who can legally administer and count ballots in California? by law, if state law really matters?
It is no coincidence that these two issues are now on the agenda together. President Trump’s election fraud allegations revealed we are moving towards this moment It has been largely out of the consciousness of mainstream voters for years, but has been deliberately pushed by those who want MAGA officials to remain in power, even at the expense of democracy.
The real question being answered in Riverside right now (the one we should all know clearly) is: If Republicans want to overrule election results that didn’t go their way this November, what’s the subtlest part of doing so?
Bianco tries to give an answer.
“This is about more than what Sheriff Bianco did,” said faculty director Matt Barreto. UCLA Voting Rights Project. “… This shouldn’t happen. And again, it doesn’t matter if the Democrats win or the Republicans win, no sheriff should come in and take over control of the votes or the counting.”
You’ve probably heard of this by now Bianco obtained numerous secret, sealed search warrants from someone my friend judge This allowed him to miss hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots in his district starting with the Proposition 50 election in November.
Bianco claims he has the right to seize these ballots and investigate as he sees fit — and that’s not our job or anyone else’s, not even the state’s attorney. Gen. Rob Bonta, who ordered Bianco to halt his work until Bonta could review.
Bianco largely ignored that order, instead garnering even more votes late last week; All this except giving Bonta a finger reserved for simple communication. Fox News loved it. Bianco’s admission on Monday that he has paused his efforts is the first sign that even he may see himself going too far.
But Bianco’s arrogance is in line with the attitude of many would-be figures. constitutional sheriffsA national movement of some far-right elected lawmakers, including Bianco, but has never claimed any explicit affiliation.
These extremist sheriffs deceptively believe that they are above both state and federal law and that they can decide what is and is not constitutional in their jurisdiction, and therefore what is law and what is not.
Building on our successes in ignoring pandemic restrictions since about 2020, These sheriffs are deep into the election fraud movement He claims he has increased rights to investigate the alleged fraud that Trump loves so much. Although their national organization does not publish its membership list, media and other monitoring programs indicate that there are at least dozens of these like-minded lawmen around the country, likely keeping a close eye on Riverside County.
Some election experts worry that if Bianco is successful in protecting the right to vote in the courts, it would set a dangerous legal precedent that would give other constitutional sheriffs the power to do the same in the midterms. Only then will new, uncounted ballots be possible, and far-right sheriffs will be tasked with ensuring the results, rather than trained, trusted election officials.
“What happens if the ballots have not yet been properly counted by the correct people and the sheriff decides he wants to confiscate them?” in question Chad Dunnco-founder and litigation attorney of UCLA’s Voting Rights Project Successfully halted Texas gerrymandering effortsfor now for now.
“Once the chain of custody is broken, just like with these, you can never count them in a way that you can get reasonable confidence from the public,” Dunn said. “This jeopardizes the entire election process.”
Constitutional sheriffs will become Trump’s boots on the ground for election deniers to do their bidding, seizing ballots as they see fit and creating such a crisis of confidence that we, the voters, Republican or Democrat, will never accept the results.
It might even give Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson a plausible reason (an ongoing fraud investigation) for elected Democrats not to hold the seat. He lingered like he did with Arizona’s Adelita Grijalva after winning a special election last year.
The Voting Rights Project, along with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, filed a lawsuit last week asking the state Supreme Court to uphold laws governing how voting is conducted in California; It basically maintains this chain of custody and makes it clear that the sheriffs can’t ignore it and are not a part of it.
“Under California law, they have no right to receive ballots from the Registrar of Voters, and under California law, they have no right to count or process ballots,” Barreto said. “There is no question he violated California election law.”
Separately, Bonta’s office filed its own lawsuit, with the constitutional sheriff issue at the forefront. Bonta wants the courts to tell Bianco that he is not the law and that he actually answers to the state attorney general.
The issue of whether sheriffs have any legal duty to listen to the state’s top law enforcement officials has long been a topic Bonta has debated; he had discussed the issue with then-Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva in another public corruption fiasco over then-LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
I predict Bianco will tell Bonta about the simple one-finger communication, as Villanueva did.
But this time, it is long past time for the state to decide how powerful the sheriffs are for the good of the country. The State Legislature has repeatedly kicked the can down the road to clarify the issue, a failure on their part.
Legislators could amend the state Constitution to allow sheriffs to be appointed rather than elected; just like police chiefs. Oversight boards can then hire and fire them like other law enforcement leaders.
Due to the resounding absence of the Legislature on this issue, we have to rely on the courts. This is likely to be a long war.
Meanwhile, Bianco draws attention right down to his mustache. It became a national story, boosting his profile throughout the MAGA verse as a defender of election deniers everywhere.
Whether Bianco wins or loses these legal battles, whether he continues his investigation or not, he has won the battle for attention; in fact, he’s at the top of the race for governor thanks to the 8 million Democrats who refuse to stop voting.
Barreto points out that Riverside County, although once so red, is increasingly purple. Bianco’s tenure as sheriff-elect may not last forever. Despite the polls, he is unlikely to hit the governor.
But maybe Fox News will be so impressed by his aggressive rhetoric that he will receive an offer. Maybe Trump, who is known for watching this, will like what he sees. So many possibilities from the trailer.
And a lot of real damage has been done to democracy.
