A California appellate court on Tuesday declined the state attorney general’s request to stop the Riverside County Sheriff’s investigation into alleged election irregularities tied to a recent special election.
The Attorney General’s Office said the rejection was procedural, based on where the case was filed, and did not decide the merits of the underlying petition. “The facts have not changed. The Riverside County Sheriff continues to directly defy the Attorney General’s instructions, in violation of the California Constitution and state law,” the office said, adding it is reviewing possible next steps.
Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running for governor, ordered the seizure of more than 611,000 ballots from the Prop 50 special election. Prop 50, a redistricting measure, passed in Riverside County with roughly 56% of the vote; ballots in favor outnumbered those against by about 82,570, according to The Associated Press. Supporters say the measure made five previously Republican U.S. House districts more favorable to Democrats.
Bianco says his office acted after receiving a complaint from a local group that alleged roughly 45,800 more votes were reported to the California Secretary of State than were actually cast. He characterized the operation as a “fact-finding mission,” saying it would include a physical count of ballots to compare against reported totals.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber rejected the allegations, saying they lack credible evidence and risk eroding public confidence in elections. Weber also cautioned that Bianco and his deputies are not election officials and do not have the election-administration expertise needed for such probes, noting similar claims by outside parties in other states have been examined and debunked.
County elections officials have disputed Bianco’s assertions as well, saying the difference between the machine count and the final count submitted to the state was about 100 votes. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters said the office “will continue to comply with all lawful court orders and with all legal obligations applicable to election materials and election administration.”
The Attorney General’s office also said it had sent letters to the sheriff’s agency over the previous two months echoing Weber’s concerns and warning that the investigation could sow distrust. The statement notes the sheriff “has not identified any particular crime that may have been committed by anyone — a necessary predicate to obtain a criminal search warrant,” and that the customary civil processes for recounts or challenges, overseen by state and local elections officials, have not been used.
Bianco has defended the investigation as unrelated to his gubernatorial campaign, asserting, “I have a duty to investigate alleged crime in Riverside County.” Earlier this year, several polls showed Bianco and conservative commentator Steve Hilton leading the Republican primary field. Under California’s top-two primary system, only the two highest vote-getters in June progress to the November general election, a dynamic that can penalize crowded candidate fields.
Recent surveys cited in media reports showed Hilton and Tom Steyer leading in some polls, with Bianco, Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Rep. Katie Porter polling in the low double digits and former State Attorney General Xavier Becerra at lower levels.