California sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots in defiance of state officials over election count dispute

A California sheriff and top Republican candidate for governor seized over 650,000 votes from the state's November elections this weekend.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco launched an investigation into the state's November 2025 special election on Proposition 50 after a third-party organization, the Riverside Election Integrity Team, claimed it found roughly 45,000 excess votes. California elections officials have dismissed the team's findings, but Bianco says his office will conduct another count.

"This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes recorded," Bianco told reporters at a Friday press conference.

Proposition 50 was a key proposal seeking to reform California's congressional districts. It was designed to favor Democrats in response to a similar effort by Republicans in Texas.

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Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate for California governor, joins Kate Monroe, an advocate for veterans, on a tour of Skid Row in Los Angeles. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Shirley Weber has argued Bianco has no authority to carry out a recount.

"The Riverside County Sheriff's Office has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections," Weber told City News Service. "The sheriff's assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable. The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials, and they do not have expertise in election administration."

Riverside elections official Art Tinoco rejected the Riverside Election Integrity Team's findings earlier this month, saying the group had misinterpreted how votes are counted on Election Day.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a "Yes On Prop 50" volunteer event in Los Angeles. Voters approved the measure, which authorized temporary changes to congressional district maps. (Getty Images)

Tinoco told county supervisors earlier this year that the initial intake logs by polling workers are meant to be estimates rather than exact tallies of how many votes were cast. Even so, he said the final tally was within 0.16%, or 103 votes, of the original estimate.

The Elections Integrity Team maintains their math is correct, however, and it was this disagreement that led Bianco to open an investigation of his own.

Bianco accused California Attorney General Bob Bonta, a Democrat, of intervening in the investigation. Bonta, however, says his office only sought to learn the basis of the probe.

"We have attempted to work cooperatively with the Sheriff’s Office in order to better understand the basis for their investigation, including by reviewing the warrants themselves and by requesting the Sheriff’s complete investigative file," Bonta's office told Fox News Digital on Sunday. "We made these requests pursuant to the Attorney General’s supervisory authority over county sheriffs."

"During this time, the Sheriff has delayed, stonewalled, and otherwise refused to work with us in good faith. To date, the Sheriff has failed to provide most of the requested documentation. But, what we have been able to learn raises serious questions about the merits of this investigation. We are especially concerned with legal deficiencies in the affidavits underlying the warrants, including the omission of material facts," his office added.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has criticized Bianco's election investigation. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Bianco has also clashed on social media with Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who is running for California governor as well.

Bianco said Friday that his office had received multiple letters from Bonta ordering him to cease the investigation, according to the Desert Sun.

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"The outrage that an investigation was happening was extremely concerning to me, especially coming from someone who claims to be a law enforcement officer that is, I’ve said this a minimum of a thousand times, he’s an embarrassment to law enforcement," Bianco said.

Bonta and Weber did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.