Sheriff Seizes Ballots, Launches Election Probe

On March 23rd, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running for California

governor, has seized over 650,000 ballots.

From last year's election, he's launching an investigation into claims of unlawful votes

tied to Proposition 50, the measure that redrew congressional districts to counter,

Garymandering efforts in other states.

The probe stems from concerns raised by a local group called the Riverside Election

Integrity Team.

They pointed to a supposed gap of nearly 46,000 votes between hand-counted records and

the official tally that helped pass the Proposition, state election officials, and Democratic

Attorney General, Rob Bonta, have rejected the allegations outright.

They note the actual difference between machine counts and final results was just 103 votes,

with no signs of widespread issues.

Last month, Bianco's team got the ballots through search warrants, and a Riverside Superior

Court judge named a special master to oversee a physical, recounting compare it to recorded

totals.

Meanwhile, Bonta has warned this, unusual move risks eroding trust and elections, especially

as Bianco campaigns in California's top two primary pact.

With Democrats and others, the situation underscores ongoing partisan battles over voting integrity

in the state.