California Sheriff Confiscates Over 650,000 Ballots in Vote Irregularity Investigation
In a controversial move, a Republican sheriff in California who is campaigning for governor has seized more than 650,000 ballots to probe alleged irregularities in a recent election. Sheriff Chad Bianco, who oversees Riverside County east of Los Angeles, initiated the investigation over the weekend, citing 'alleged irregularities' in the county's electoral processes.
Origins of the Investigation
The action stems from claims made by a third-party citizens' group known as the Riverside Election Integrity Team. This organization asserted it discovered an excess of approximately 46,000 votes in the November special election for Proposition 50. This proposition was a redistricting measure designed to benefit Democrats in the midterm elections and was subsequently enacted into law.
Proposition 50 was introduced by California Governor Gavin Newsom as a response to a similar redistricting effort in Texas that aimed to bolster Republican chances in upcoming elections. Despite California officials dismissing the group's findings as unfounded and potentially fueling conspiracy theories, Sheriff Bianco proceeded with the investigation, announcing plans for a manual recount of the ballots.
Political and Legal Backlash
At a press conference on Friday, Sheriff Bianco, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, explained his rationale: 'This investigation is simple: physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes recorded.' However, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has strongly questioned the investigation, arguing that Bianco's office lacks both the expertise and legal authority to conduct such a recount.
Weber stated to the City News Service, 'The Riverside County Sheriff's Office has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections.' She added, 'The sheriff's assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable. The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials, and they do not have expertise in election administration.'
Details of the Alleged Discrepancy
Proposition 50 was passed with 64 percent of statewide ballots in November last year, securing 56 percent of the vote in Riverside County, where a total of 656,000 votes were cast. This means Bianco has effectively seized nearly every ballot from that election. The Riverside Election Integrity Team, led by Greg Langworthy, presented its audit method at a Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in February, claiming an unaccounted-for discrepancy of 45,896 ballots.
In response, Riverside County election official Art Tinoco dismissed these findings last month, stating the group misunderstood election day vote tally procedures. Tinoco explained that initial intake logs are estimates, not exact counts, and the final tally, verified by two independent systems, was within 103 votes of that estimate—a minor fraction of the alleged discrepancy and well within the state's accepted margin of error.
Escalating Tensions with State Authorities
Sheriff Bianco has accused Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta of attempting to undermine his investigation. Bonta's office refuted this in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, 'We have attempted to work cooperatively with the Sheriff’s Office in order to better understand the basis for their investigation, including by reviewing the warrants themselves and by requesting the Sheriff’s complete investigative file.'
The attorney general's office further claimed that Bianco 'has delayed, stonewalled, and otherwise refused to work with us in good faith,' noting he has not provided most requested documentation and expressing 'serious questions about the merits of this investigation.' The Daily Mail has reached out to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office for additional comment, but no response has been reported at this time.
