Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a top Republican candidate for California governor, seized more than 650,000 ballots from the state's November 2025 special election this weekend, launching an investigation into Proposition 50 after a third-party organization raised questions about the vote count.
The Riverside Election Integrity Team claimed it found roughly 45,000 excess votes in its review of the election. Proposition 50 was a key proposal seeking to reform California's congressional districts, designed to favor Democrats in response to a similar Republican effort in Texas. Bianco told reporters at a Friday press conference that his investigation would physically count the ballots and compare the results with the total votes recorded.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber has argued Bianco lacks the authority to conduct a recount. 'The Riverside County Sheriff's Office has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections,' Weber told City News Service. 'The sheriff's assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable. The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials, and they do not have expertise in election administration.'
What the Left Is Saying
California Democrats and state officials have sharply criticized Bianco's investigation as without merit and potentially damaging to public confidence in elections. Secretary of State Shirley Weber, a Democrat appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom, has explicitly stated the sheriff has no legal authority to conduct a recount and called his actions a risk to election integrity.
Weber's office emphasized that Bianco is not an elections official and lacks expertise in election administration. The Secretary of State's position has been supported by Riverside County elections official Art Tinoco, who told county supervisors that the Election Integrity Team had misinterpreted how votes are counted on Election Day.
Attorney General Bob Bonta, a Democrat, sent multiple letters ordering Bianco to cease the investigation. According to reports in the Desert Sun, Bianco described Bonta's intervention as 'extremely concerning' and called the attorney general 'an embarrassment to law enforcement.' Bonta's office has said it only sought to learn the basis of the probe, not to interfere with a legitimate investigation.
Progressive critics have noted that Bianco's actions come as he campaigns for governor against Democratic candidates including Representative Eric Swalwell, with whom Bianco has clashed on social media.
What the Right Is Saying
Sheriff Chad Bianco and his supporters have defended the investigation as a necessary exercise of law enforcement authority to ensure election integrity. Bianco has argued that his office has the right to investigate potential discrepancies in the vote count, regardless of whether state officials agree with his conclusions.
The Riverside Election Integrity Team, a third-party organization, stands by its analysis claiming roughly 45,000 excess votes were found. Bianco has framed his investigation as a response to what he calls 'indefensible' Democratic policies and a necessary check on state election officials whom he believes have failed to address legitimate concerns about vote counting.
Bianco has been a leading Republican candidate for governor and has polling support among GOP voters. He has clashed publicly with Governor Newsom, whom he has criticized over the administration's handling of crime and immigration issues. His supporters see the investigation as a way to bring transparency to what they view as a secretive election process.
What the Numbers Show
Riverside County elections official Art Tinoco told county supervisors that the initial intake logs by polling workers are meant to be estimates rather than exact tallies of how many votes were cast. According to Tinoco, the final tally in the Proposition 50 race was within 0.16%, or just 103 votes, of the original estimate.
The California Secretary of State's office has not independently verified the Election Integrity Team's findings. State officials have described the team's claims as lacking credible evidence. The 0.16% margin is well within typical recount variances for California elections.
Proposition 50 was a special election measure aimed at reforming California's congressional redistricting process. The proposal was designed to favor Democrats in response to a similar Republican-backed effort in Texas. The outcome of the election itself is not disputed by state officials, only the methodology used by the third-party Election Integrity Team.
The Bottom Line
The conflict between Sheriff Bianco and state election officials represents a significant test of law enforcement authority in California elections. While Bianco has positioned his investigation as an exercise of civic duty, legal experts and state officials have questioned whether a sheriff has jurisdiction over election counts that fall under the authority of county elections officials and the Secretary of State.
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions around election integrity in California, a state where voting procedures have become increasingly political. What to watch: whether Attorney General Bonta takes formal legal action to block the investigation, and how voters in the 2026 gubernatorial race respond to Bianco's actions. The ballots remain in sheriff's custody while the investigation continues, though no timeline has been given for when a recount might be completed.