A Republican California sheriff must return more than a half-million ballots he seized for an investigation into unfounded voting improprieties in a special election last year, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
\n\nRiverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in February seized approximately 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election on statewide congressional redistricting favorable to Democrats and pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The measure easily passed statewide, and won in Bianco’s county by roughly 80,000 votes.
\n\nThe court called the ballots’ seizure “unlawful,” saying California law requires voted ballots to remain in the custody and control of election officials, even during a criminal investigation. Bianco must also “refrain from further handling of the ballots except as necessary to comply with our order,” the court said in a unanimous decision. Bianco did not immediately comment on the ruling.
\n\nBianco’s ballot investigation came as President Donald Trump has repeatedly disputed the results of the 2020 election, citing unsubstantiated instances of fraud. His administration in January seized ballots and other documents from an election office in Georgia. Some Republicans have mirrored Trump’s rhetoric on voting in their states. Election officials and civil rights groups have been following the Bianco case carefully as they…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/
