Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco Challenges California Attorney General Over Ballot Seizure

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco remains resolute as the California Supreme Court considers if he must return around 650,000 ballots he seized from a special election held in November 2025 concerning redistricting. The court convened on Monday to hear arguments from Bianco’s legal representatives and the state of California. State Attorney General Rob Bonta initiated a legal challenge against Bianco’s actions in March, mandating him to return the ballots.

Bianco has refused, asserting through his legal team that he had a legal duty to scrutinize the ballots after receiving a complaint. “I did this, and this was legal,” Bianco stated to reporters. “I went a different route. They are legal. Both routes are legal. It’s just their side doesn’t like the route I chose.”

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Bianco appeared at the California Supreme Court hearing concerning his seizure and recount of over half a million 2025 election ballots on Monday, August 24, 2026, in San Francisco.

Bianco’s attorney, Bradley Hertz, informed reporters that the sheriff is still holding the ballots, maintaining they serve as evidence. “The sheriff is holding that evidence, safeguarding it as a custodian for the court,” Hertz said.

The ballots were from a November 2025 special election where voters decided on Proposition 50, a legislative redistricting measure which passed with more than 3.4 million votes, according to the California Secretary of State.

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Bianco raised concerns regarding the accuracy of the official count. “How strange, that now we have evidence that the machines counted something different than the ballots that we have, and an Attorney General runs in to stop that investigation so that we’ll never know,” Bianco commented outside the courthouse.

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Attorney General Bonta, in his March legal challenge, teamed up with the UCLA Voting Rights Project, which filed a separate challenge against Bianco’s actions. “This is a sheriff that – despite the clear language in the California constitution, and in California government code, providing me direct supervision, authority over him – failed to comply with it,” Bonta remarked to reporters outside the courthouse on Monday. “He can read, he knows what it says, it makes his violations even more egregious,” Bonta added.

Bianco countered Bonta’s interpretation of California code. “If you take it word for word, in that context, it means that he has direct authority that if I’m not doing my job he can order me to do it and if I don’t do it he can do it for me. But he cannot stop an investigation.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the UCLA Voting Rights Project, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and the California Attorney General’s Office for additional comments. The Associated Press contributed to this report.