California Supreme Court Orders Sheriff to Return 650,000 Seized Ballots

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by ordering his deputies to seize more than 650,000 ballots from the recent Proposition 50 special election. In two unanimous decisions, the justices ordered Bianco to return the ballots to county officials and cease his investigation into alleged election fraud.

The court stated that Bianco also disregarded directives from Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had ordered the sheriff to pause the probe. According to the ruling, section 15551 of the state election code mandates that voted ballots remain in the custody of elections officials, and Bianco’s interpretation of the law was rejected as inconsistent with its plain text.

“In short, Bianco’s arguments fail to persuade us that we should interpret section 15551 in a manner inconsistent with its plain text, which mandates that voted ballots remain in the custody of elections officials,” the court wrote. The justices further ordered Bianco to “refrain from further handling of the ballots except as necessary to comply with our order.”

Bianco, who recently lost his bid for California governor in the primaries, framed the decision as an expansion of executive power. In an advertisement for his 2028 reelection campaign, he argued that the court handed the Attorney General’s Office “unchecked power over any investigation in the state of California.”

“For that, the Court handed Bonta the power to pause a local criminal investigation and lock the evidence behind the Registrar,” Bianco wrote. “I will obey the writs. I will not obey the message behind them — that local law enforcement works for Sacramento, not for the people who elected us.”

The conflict centered on Article V, Section 13 of the California Constitution, which designates the attorney general as the chief law officer of the state with direct supervision over sheriffs and district attorneys in matters pertaining to their official duties. The court found that Bianco ignored this supervisory authority when he continued his ballot seizure despite Bonta’s instructions.

Bonta expressed satisfaction with the outcome, stating, “I’m grateful that our State Supreme Court reaffirmed my authority as Attorney General to supervise county sheriffs.” He added that the situation required “extraordinary action” to protect the public interest.

In a social media video posted after the ruling, Bianco claimed the case was never about legality but rather about whether the attorney general could stop a lawful investigation into crime. He also invoked former President Donald Trump’s false claims of 2020 election fraud, telling Bonta, “you may have succeeded in burying the truth—for now.”

The dispute began earlier this year when Bianco’s office seized more than 611,000 ballots from the Prop 50 election, which involved redistricting that shifted five Republican U.S. House seats to favor Democrats. Bianco alleged a discrepancy of approximately 45,800 votes between local reports and the Secretary of State’s figures. However, county elections officials disputed this, noting the difference was closer to 100 votes.

Governor Gavin Newsom, a former attorney general himself, praised the ruling and noted that he recently signed legislation to prevent ballot seizures. “Today’s ruling affirms that in California we will defend democracy — using every branch of government,” Newsom said.