Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized over 650,000 ballots from the November 2025 election to investigate allegations of a 45,000-vote discrepancy in the county’s official tally, sparking fierce pushback from California Democrats who call the unprecedented probe dangerous.

Sheriff Orders Full Ballot Verification

Bianco announced at a Friday press conference that his department will physically count every ballot and compare the results with recorded vote totals. The investigation focuses on Proposition 50, which passed in Riverside County with 56 percent support and an 82,000-vote margin. The Riverside Election Integrity Team triggered the probe after identifying potential irregularities in the county’s reported numbers.

A Riverside County Superior Court judge ordered the appointment of a special master to oversee the count. Bianco emphasized the investigation aims to verify accuracy, not automatically challenge results. “There is no acceptable error, small or large, in our elections,” he stated. “It is just as much to prove the election is accurate as it is to show otherwise.”

Democratic Officials Attack Investigation

California Attorney General Rob Bonta condemned the ballot seizure as “unprecedented in both scope and scale,” claiming it appears “not to be based on facts or evidence.” Bonta accused Bianco of stonewalling his office’s requests for information and warned the investigation “will only sow distrust in our elections.” Secretary of State Shirley Weber questioned the sheriff’s authority, arguing deputies “are not elections officials and they do not have expertise in election administration.”

Bianco fired back at Bonta, calling him “an embarrassment to law enforcement.” Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco maintains the alleged discrepancy stems from misunderstood incomplete data, claiming the actual variance was only 103 votes, or 0.016 percent of the total.

Gubernatorial Race Adds Political Stakes

The controversy comes as Bianco campaigns for California governor. Recent polling shows him tied for second place at 16 percent, trailing Republican Steve Hilton by just one point. Democrats Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell each hold 13 percent support in the crowded field. The timing of the investigation raises questions about political motivations, though Bianco maintains election integrity transcends partisan concerns. The ballot count will determine whether California’s election systems operated accurately or whether significant errors occurred in one of the state’s largest counties.