The California Supreme Court halted an investigation by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco last week into ballots from a November 2025 special election, after his office seized them following accusations of potential voter fraud.
Bianco, who is also running for governor of California as a Republican, seized more than 650,000 ballots from the local election office after a community watchdog group cited alleged discrepancies, according to The Hill.
The special election centered on Proposition 50, a measure that would have amended the state’s constitution to redraw California’s congressional maps to favor Democrats before November’s midterm elections.
It would also temporarily take power away from the California Citizens Redistricting Commission to accomplish this.
The measure passed by a wide majority and was later challenged by the Justice Department. The Supreme Court denied an emergency request in February to block the map from going into effect.
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Bianco, however, said he was “technically… very happy,” that the California Supreme Court will be taking the case and reviewing it on the merits. He also slammed California’s Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta in a recent Instagram post.
“We are happy with the ruling from the California Supreme Court this morning continuing the election investigation,” the post from Bianco read. “Our embarrassment of an attorney general failed in his disingenuous arguments and now the court will hear our case.”
“We will continue to argue for the investigation to continue despite political activist Rob Bonta’s use of lawfare to stop it and cover up this lawful investigation,” it continued. “We simply need to know the total number of ballots. Bonta is wasting tax payer dollars for politics. Stay tuned California.”
The post included a video of Bianco commenting on the case. He explained that the counting and examining of ballots will stop for the present, but that the battle will continue.
“We are not allowed to progress with the counting of the ballots, and we’ll just continue fighting for this for you, and we will make sure that an investigation, like any investigation, is completed and not swept under the rug, like our attorney general would like to happen,” he said in the video.
Bonta was the one who called on the state Supreme Court to step in.
“The Riverside County Sheriff willfully defied my direct orders, seized 650,000 ballots, misused criminal investigatory tools, and created a constitutional emergency in the process,” Bonta said in a statement obtained by The Hill.
“What the Sheriff says and what he does are often two different things,” he continued. “This decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue Sheriff, prohibiting him from continuing this investigation while our litigation continues.”
Bonta added, “The Supreme Court has also agreed to review this case on the merits — a necessary and appropriate response to what is clearly an unprecedented situation.”
President Donald Trump endorsed Steve Hilton, Bianco’s top Republican competitor in the gubernatorial race, saying last week that “he is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great State has gone to Hell.”
California has a jungle primary system, meaning that the two highest ranking candidates proceed to a runoff, regardless of party.
It appears increasingly likely that two Republicans could end up on the ballot, especially given that Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has dropped out of the race and is facing possible expulsion from Congress due to several major scandals.
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