RIVERSIDE, CA — A California sheriff running for governor has seized more than half a million ballots from a November 2025 special election, triggering a political and legal fight that could reshape the statewide race appearing on East County ballots this June.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, ordered the seizure of nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots and election materials from the county elections office, citing a complaint from a local citizens group about a discrepancy between handwritten intake logs and the official vote count. The special election in question involved a redistricting measure — Proposition 50 — which passed in the county by a margin of more than 80,000 votes, redrawing congressional lines to favor Democrats ahead of the midterms.
County elections officials dispute Bianco's claims. They say the handwritten rolls were kept by temporary workers during long shifts and may have included errors, but that the machine count and the final tally submitted to the state differed by only about 100 votes.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, called the seizure "unacceptable" and said it was designed to sow distrust in elections. Bonta has sent multiple letters to Bianco's office over the past two months warning that sheriff's deputies are not qualified to conduct a recount.
Bianco, who has been elected sheriff twice in Riverside County — which borders San Diego County's East County cities — denied the move was political. "This investigation is simple: physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported," he said at a Friday news conference.
The stakes are high for East County voters. Bianco is one of two prominent Republicans running for governor in a crowded June primary where California's top-two system puts all candidates on the same ballot. Democratic leaders worry their crowded field could split the vote and send Bianco and fellow Republican Steve Hilton to a November general election — an outcome that would be historically unusual in a state as Democratic as California.
The primary ballot will also include congressional races affecting East County districts, making turnout and confidence in the election process directly relevant to local voters.
A special master appointed by a court is now overseeing the ballot count.