Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running for governor, seized more than 650,000 ballots from the 2025 special election on Proposition 50. The move followed allegations from a local activist group that vote tallies did not match the number of ballots received. Bianco said a simple physical count would expose fraud.

Proposition 50 asked voters whether Democrats could redraw California’s congressional districts after the Texas redistricting war. Voters approved the measure with about 7.4 million in favor and 4.1 million against, leaving a decisive margin that makes any fraud claim unlikely to alter the outcome.

State officials, including Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta, slammed the investigation as baseless and politically motivated. They warned that a sheriff’s office lacks the expertise to audit ballots and that the seizure could erode public confidence in California’s elections.

Bianco’s action comes two months before the statewide primary, raising questions about whether the sheriff is courting the Trump‑aligned base to boost his campaign. While the probe is unlikely to change the Proposition 50 result, it signals a broader trend of election‑interference tactics that could reshape future electoral oversight.