California Sheriff Used Conspiracy Theories to Justify Seizing 650,000 Ballots

Sheriff Built Case on Activist Conspiracy Theories

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized 650,000 ballots in February based on search warrants that read like a greatest hits compilation of election fraud conspiracy theories. The warrants, unsealed Wednesday by court order, show Bianco's office took fraud claims from anti-voting activists at face value without establishing that any crime had actually occurred.

The warrants cite Greg Langworthy, a member of the Riverside County Election Integrity Team (REIT), as the primary source for allegations of ballot count discrepancies. REIT is a small conservative activist group that has repeatedly claimed to find irregularities in election data across multiple cycles.

But here's the problem: the county registrar says those "discrepancies" stem from activists misunderstanding raw election data. That didn't stop Bianco from using their claims to justify one of the largest ballot seizures in California history.

Secession Activists and Cease-and-Desist Orders

The warrants get even stranger. One of the activists cited in the 2024 warrant affidavit is Shelby Bunch, who serves as the Riverside County chair and senator of the New California State -- a movement advocating for conservative parts of California to secede from the state.

Bunch reportedly served the Riverside County Board of Supervisors with a cease-and-desist order attempting to stop the 2024 election. Now her fraud allegations are being used to justify seizing ballots from a subsequent election.

The other activist cited in the warrants, Yvette Anthony, died in 2024.

Warrants Failed to Establish Probable Cause

Legal experts say the warrants shouldn't have been signed in the first place. To obtain a search warrant, law enforcement must identify a specific individual suspected of committing a crime and provide facts suggesting that crime occurred.

Bianco's investigator, Robert Castellanos, didn't do that. Instead, he wrote: "Due to the timeframe regarding the ballots being destroyed and the large discrepancy between the numbers from the REIT audit and the official count, I am requesting to seize and search the ballots from the 2025 Special Election. I believe that in doing so it is the only way to prove or disprove fraud."

That's not how probable cause works. You can't seize evidence to go fishing for a crime that might exist.

Attorney General Rob Bonta's office, which is suing to stop the ballot seizure, argues the three warrants signed by Judge Jay Kiel "suffer from serious legal deficiencies."

Following the Fulton County Playbook

The Riverside warrants follow the same script as the FBI's controversial raid on Fulton County, Georgia's main elections hub. That raid, which targeted materials from the 2020 presidential election, was based on an affidavit filled with disinformation and debunked voter fraud claims pushed by Trump allies.

Just over a week after the FBI's Fulton County warrant was signed and executed, Bianco asked a California judge to sign a nearly identical request.

The parallel is chilling. What started as a federal assault on election integrity in swing states is now being replicated by local sheriffs targeting state and local elections.

Ballots Seized Without Oversight

The warrants also reveal a troubling lack of oversight. California law prohibits ballots from being removed from the custody of election officials, even during criminal investigations. But Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco facilitated the transfer anyway, according to a lawsuit filed by county voters.

Tinoco arranged for his office to receive a live video feed of where the ballots were stored. On March 5, his staff watched as sheriff's personnel unsealed and counted 22 boxes containing 12,000 ballots.

"Shortly thereafter, the investigator left my office with the laptop containing access to the live feed," Tinoco stated in court filings.

Only after handling 12,000 ballots did the sheriff's office ask the court to appoint a special master to oversee the count "in an effort to avoid any potential appearance of impropriety."

Too late for that.

Sheriff Dismisses Concerns About Qualifications

Bianco has brushed off criticism that his staff lacks the expertise to conduct a recount. When Attorney General Bonta questioned whether sheriff's deputies were qualified for the task, Bianco responded with characteristic swagger.

"I cannot speak for him, or for California DOJ, but I can assure you completely that my investigators definitely know how to count," Bianco told reporters last month.

Knowing how to count and knowing how to conduct a legally valid election recount are two very different things. Election officials follow strict chain-of-custody protocols, use specialized equipment, and operate under legal frameworks designed to ensure accuracy and prevent tampering.

Sheriff's deputies investigating alleged crimes follow different procedures entirely -- procedures that can compromise the integrity of the very evidence they're supposed to be protecting.

California Supreme Court Steps In

The California Supreme Court ordered Bianco to pause his investigation Wednesday while it considers Bonta's petition demanding the ballots be returned to proper custody.

But the damage may already be done. Once ballots leave the secure chain of custody maintained by election officials, their integrity as evidence becomes questionable. If Bianco's office has already handled, counted, or otherwise processed thousands of ballots without proper oversight, those ballots may no longer be usable for any legitimate recount or audit.

Which raises the question: was that the point all along?

The Bigger Picture

The Riverside case shows how election fraud conspiracy theories can be weaponized to undermine local elections. Activists with no expertise in election administration make wild claims about discrepancies. Law enforcement officials with political motivations take those claims seriously. Judges sign off on warrants that lack probable cause. And suddenly, hundreds of thousands of ballots are in the hands of people who have no business handling them.

This is the playbook. And it's being rolled out across the country.

The FBI raid in Fulton County. The ballot seizure in Riverside County. These aren't isolated incidents. They're part of a coordinated effort to cast doubt on election results, intimidate election officials, and create pretexts for overturning outcomes that don't favor a particular political faction.

The warrants unsealed this week provide a roadmap for how it happens. Activists manufacture "evidence" of fraud. Law enforcement launders those conspiracy theories into official investigations. Courts rubber-stamp warrants that wouldn't survive basic legal scrutiny. And by the time anyone can challenge the process, the ballots are already compromised.

Democracy doesn't die in darkness. It dies in broad daylight, with search warrants signed by judges and press conferences held by sheriffs who insist they're just doing their jobs.