The controversy centers on allegations from a local election integrity group, which claims that while approximately 611,000 ballots were cast, more than 657,000 votes were counted—suggesting a discrepancy of tens of thousands of ballots. These claims prompted the sheriff’s department to obtain search warrants in February, allowing access to ballots and election records from the county’s registrar of voters.

Bianco confirmed that the department’s next step is a full physical count of ballots. Investigators will compare the number of physical ballots to official records and reported totals submitted to the state.