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Politics

California Supreme Court considers legality of sheriff's ballot seizure

Justices heard oral arguments on whether Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco must return approximately 650,000 ballots seized after a 2025 election.

Updated Aug 24, 2026 · 21:18 UTC2 reports

The short version

  • The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's March seizure of about 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election.
  • State Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project argued that the sheriff lacked legal authority to take election materials, while Bianco's legal defense asserted he had a duty to investigate and is preserving the ballots as court evidence.
  • The high court will decide whether the sheriff must return the seized election boxes to local election officials.

Key facts

  • The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday regarding Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of 1,000 boxes containing roughly 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Sheriff Bianco seized the ballots in March to investigate a citizen group's complaint regarding the vote count, despite local election officials previously determining the complaint was unfounded.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project filed separate legal challenges to force the return of the ballots, contending the sheriff exceeded his statutory authority.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Bianco's attorney, Bradley Hertz, argued that the sheriff followed state penal code procedures after receiving a complaint and is holding the ballots as evidence for the court.[Associated Press · ABC News]
  • Bianco initially started a recount using sheriff's personnel under a court-appointed special master, but suspended the process days later due to legal challenges.[Associated Press · ABC News]

What remains uncertain

  • The timing of the California Supreme Court's ruling on whether Sheriff Bianco must return the election materials remains unspecified.[Associated Press · ABC News]

Sources