RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco paused his investigation into unsubstantiated claims of election fraud on March 30, 2026, after seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots cast in the November 2025 Proposition 50 election. The sheriff had defied an order from California Attorney General Rob Bonta to stop seizing ballots.

Bianco obtained secret, sealed search warrants from a judge to seize ballots from the November Proposition 50 election. Attorney General Rob Bonta ordered Bianco to stop seizing ballots until the action could be reviewed.

The sheriff ignored the attorney general's order and seized additional ballots in late March 2026. Bianco, who is a Republican candidate for California governor, then paused his investigation on March 30.

The Voting Rights Project and Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit asking the California Supreme Court to uphold laws governing how ballots are handled in California. The California Attorney General's office filed an action asking courts to rule that sheriffs are subject to the authority of the state attorney general.

"This is about more than just what Sheriff Bianco is doing. It shouldn't happen. And again, it doesn't matter if Democrats are winning or Republicans are winning, no sheriff should come in and take over possession or counting of ballots," said Matt Barreto, Faculty Director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project.

Chad Dunn, Co-founder of the UCLA Voting Rights Project and trial lawyer, raised concerns about the ballot seizures. "What happens if the ballots have not been properly counted by the right people yet and a sheriff decides they want to go confiscate them?" Dunn said.

"It puts the entire election process in jeopardy," Dunn added.