California Supreme Court Halts Rogue Sheriff's Ballot Seizure After He Grabbed 1,400 Boxes Based on Bogus Fraud Claims

The California Supreme Court stepped in Wednesday to stop a county sheriff from continuing what state officials are calling an illegal election investigation—one that resulted in the seizure of more than 1,400 boxes containing over half a million ballots.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is running for governor as a Republican, launched the probe in February after a local citizens group complained about ballot counts from a November 2025 special election on redistricting. There was just one problem: local election officials had already told the county Board of Supervisors the complaint was completely unfounded.

That did not stop Bianco. He seized 1,000 boxes of election materials in March. When California Attorney General Rob Bonta ordered him to halt the investigation, Bianco responded by seizing another 426 boxes last week.

The state Supreme Court's order came after Bonta asked the justices to intervene. A voting rights group is also challenging the ballot seizure in separate litigation.

"What the Sheriff says and what he does are often two different things," Bonta said in a statement Wednesday. "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."

Bianco has defended his actions by pointing out that a county judge approved the investigation. But that approval came before the scope of the seizure became clear and before election officials publicly debunked the fraud allegations that prompted it.

The sheriff's office did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Bianco announced last week that he would pause the probe because of mounting legal challenges—a claim that rings hollow given he seized hundreds more boxes of ballots after making that statement.

The case highlights a troubling pattern: elected officials with political ambitions using the machinery of law enforcement to legitimize baseless election fraud claims. Bianco is one of two prominent Republican candidates in California's gubernatorial race, and his investigation has given oxygen to conspiracy theories that election officials say have no basis in fact.

The Supreme Court's order requires Bianco to preserve all seized ballots while the legal challenge proceeds. That means no more fishing expeditions through election materials while he campaigns on a platform that includes questioning election integrity.

California election officials have repeatedly stated that the 2025 special election was conducted properly and that the ballot count was accurate. The citizens group that filed the original complaint has not provided any evidence to contradict that assessment.

This is not the first time sheriffs have attempted to insert themselves into election administration. In recent years, a handful of sheriffs—mostly in conservative counties—have claimed broad authority to investigate election fraud based on their interpretation of constitutional powers. Legal experts say those claims are dubious at best, and courts have consistently rejected them.

Bonta's office argues that Bianco's investigation violates state election law, which gives the Secretary of State and county election officials—not sheriffs—authority over election administration and ballot custody. The Attorney General is seeking a permanent injunction to stop the probe and return the seized materials to proper election authorities.

The case will now proceed through the courts while the ballots remain under the Supreme Court's preservation order. For now, at least, one sheriff's attempt to turn election administration into a campaign prop has been put on hold.