California sheriff seizes over 500,000 ballots in 2025 election probe

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, seized more than 500,000 ballots from the county elections office as part of an investigation into a ballot-count discrepancy from the November 2025 redistricting election. County officials dispute the claimed discrepancy, noting a small gap between machine totals and the final count and suggesting handwritten logs may have errors; Bianco says the effort is a fact-finding mission that will resume under a judge-appointed special master. California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the seizure unprecedented and warned it could sow distrust in elections, while Bianco emphasized the probe’s independence from his campaign.