SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California sheriff running for governor has temporarily halted his investigation into alleged election irregularities after facing increasing legal pressure from state officials and voting rights advocates.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, announced Saturday that his department was suspending the inquiry due to what he called “politically motivated lawsuits and court filings.”
The decision follows legal action initiated last week by Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project, both challenging Bianco’s jurisdiction over voting materials.
Bianco had maintained that his investigation and the confiscation of more than 650,000 November election ballots was lawful and had received approval from a local judge. Even after Bonta’s office directed him to cease operations, the sheriff continued by collecting additional ballots from county election facilities last week.
Attorney General Bonta’s office announced Monday it would proceed with legal filings in both the California Supreme Court and superior court.
“Our focus is on what the Sheriff does, not what he says,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The UCLA Voting Rights Project filed a separate petition Monday representing multiple Riverside County residents, requesting the state’s highest court to compel Bianco to return the seized ballots during ongoing litigation.
“Our election law is clear that voted ballots are to remain in the custody of election officials, and nothing the sheriff has presented changes that basic rule,” said Sonni Waknin, an attorney with the organization.
The controversy began in February and intensified recently when Bianco confiscated 1,000 containers of voting materials while investigating concerns raised by a local citizen organization regarding ballot tallies from a November 2025 redistricting special election. County election administrators informed the Board of Supervisors last month that these concerns lacked merit. Despite orders from Bonta to cease the investigation, Bianco obtained an additional 426 ballot containers last week.
This ballot examination occurs as President Donald Trump continues to question 2020 election outcomes, pointing to unproven fraud claims. Trump’s administration has recently confiscated ballots and documentation from a Georgia election facility. Several Republican officials have adopted similar rhetoric regarding voting procedures in their respective states.
