California sheriff seizes more than half a million 2025 ballots

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized over half a million ballots from a November 2025 special election citing a reported count discrepancy; county officials dispute the claim and a judge has appointed a special master to supervise a resumed count.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has taken custody of more than half a million ballots from a November 2025 special election, saying his office is investigating a reported discrepancy between handwritten intake logs and reported totals. County elections officials have disputed Bianco's account and say machine counts and final totals closely matched. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the seizure unprecedented and has written to the sheriff's office that its staff are not qualified to conduct a recount. A judge has appointed a special master and the counting is set to resume under that supervision. Key points: - Sheriff Chad Bianco seized nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots and election materials from the county elections office with a warrant in February. - Bianco said a local citizens group reported a discrepancy of about 45,800 votes between handwritten ballot intake logs and the totals reported to the state. - County elections officials have refuted that figure, saying the machine count and the final count submitted to the state differed by about 100 votes and that handwritten rolls were kept by temporary workers. - A judge-appointed special master will supervise the resumed count; further legal or procedural steps are undetermined at this time. Summary: Officials describe the action as an investigation into a reported ballot-count discrepancy while county and state officials have disputed the need for the seizure. The immediate status is that the seized ballots will be counted under the supervision of a judge-appointed special master. Undetermined at this time.