Sacramento, California– The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the county sheriff who seized more than half a million 2025 election ballots to halt his investigation into election fraud allegations while judges review the legal challenge against him.
The order came after California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, last month asked the court to intervene. The voting rights group is also challenging the ballot confiscation.
The dispute began in February and escalated last month when Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized 1,000 boxes of election materials to investigate a complaint from a local citizens group about vote counting in the November 2025 special election over redistricting. Local election officials told the county Board of Supervisors last month that the complaint was baseless. After Bonta Bianco ordered his investigation halted, the sheriff confiscated another 426 boxes of ballots last week.
Bonta said Wednesday’s order is necessary to stop the sheriff’s investigation.
“What the sheriff says and what he does are often two different things,” Bonta said in a statement. “Today’s decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue sheriff, preventing him from continuing this investigation while our lawsuit continues.”
Bianco’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bianco is also one of the leading Republican gubernatorial candidates in the state. He previously defended his investigation, noting that it had been approved by a district judge. The sheriff said last week that he was pausing the investigation due to mounting legal challenges.