California Supreme Court Halts GOP Sheriff's Unauthorized Ballot Seizure

The California Supreme Court stepped in Wednesday to stop a rogue sheriff from continuing an unauthorized investigation into baseless election fraud claims, ordering Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to preserve the more than half a million ballots he seized and halt his probe immediately.

The order represents a significant rebuke to Bianco, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who seized 1,426 boxes of election materials over the objections of state officials, local election administrators, and voting rights groups. The sheriff launched his investigation after a local citizens group complained about ballot counts from a November 2025 special election on redistricting -- claims that county election officials told the Board of Supervisors were unfounded.

"What the Sheriff says and what he does are often two different things," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement following the court's decision. "Today's 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."

The dispute escalated dramatically last month when Bonta, a Democrat, ordered Bianco to stop his investigation, arguing the sheriff has no legal authority over election materials. Bianco's response was to seize an additional 426 boxes of ballots, bringing his total haul to over 1,000 boxes.

Bianco had defended the seizure by noting a county judge approved his investigation. But the Supreme Court's order makes clear that approval does not shield him from state oversight or legal challenges. The sheriff claimed last week he had already paused the probe due to mounting legal pressure, though Bonta's statement suggests the Attorney General's office does not trust Bianco's word without a court order backing it up.

The ballot seizure fits a broader pattern of Republican officials mimicking Trump administration rhetoric about election fraud despite no evidence of widespread problems. Trump has repeatedly disputed the 2020 election results with unsubstantiated fraud claims, and his administration recently seized ballots and documents from an election office in Georgia.

Bianco is one of two prominent Republican candidates in California's gubernatorial race, and his election fraud investigation appears designed to appeal to voters who believe Trump's false claims about stolen elections. But the Supreme Court's intervention demonstrates that California's legal system will not tolerate sheriffs taking election administration into their own hands based on conspiracy theories.

A voting rights group has also filed a legal challenge against the ballot seizure, arguing it undermines public confidence in elections and violates state election law. The case will continue in the courts while Bianco is barred from advancing his investigation.

The order to preserve all seized materials ensures that if Bianco's actions are ultimately found unlawful, the ballots will not have been tampered with or destroyed. It also prevents the sheriff from using his investigation as a platform to amplify election fraud narratives during his gubernatorial campaign.

Bianco's office did not respond to requests for comment on the Supreme Court order.