A Republican California sheriff must return more than a half-million ballots he seized for an investigation into unfounded voting improprieties in a special election last year, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in February seized approximately 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election on statewide congressional redistricting favorable to Democrats and pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The measure easily passed statewide, and won in Bianco’s county by roughly 80,000 votes.

The court called the ballots’ seizure “unlawful,” saying California law requires voted ballots to remain in the custody and control of election officials, even during a criminal investigation. Bianco must also “refrain from further handling of the ballots except as necessary to comply with our order,” the court said in an unanimous decision. Bianco did not immediately comment on the ruling.

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[–] 22 points 1 month ago (1 child)

So if it was unlawful why does he still have a job and why isn't he in prison? Anyone else would get a perp walk, to "show" the attempted election fraud.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 month ago

    Arrest the motherfucker already

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    Meanwhile, a citizen would seize 650,000 bank notes from a bank and get 25 years in prison... the hypocrisy is real in the American 'justice' system.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    This motherfucker should be in prison, god damn it.

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  • 12 comments in c/news@lemmy.world view that post
    [–] 95 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    So… was that the test run to see how long the ballots could be witheld before they actually get released?

    Because that was half a million ballots last year, and he’s still got them.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    I doubt it

    Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in February seized approximately 650,000 ballots from a November 2025 special election

    It isn’t good or okay but seizing ballots after they’ve been counted, tallied and several months have gone by wouldn’t do much against the initiative would it?

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  • [–] 19 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    No, but they could be disappeared so that when the vote tally is changed after the fact, it can't be verified or recounted.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 month ago

    Sure, but a couple of months after? And if that was th le case it backfired because now there’s case law precedent that shows:

    The Court has now made clear that this kind of defiance cannot stand, that the Attorney General has the authority to intervene when sheriffs take improper action, and that voted ballots belong in the custody of elections officials

    And

    Newsom on Saturday signed a bill that would prevent anyone from seizing ballots, as Bianco did.

    Seems more like a MAGA targeted campaign stunt:

    At the time of the ballots’ seizure, Bianco was one of two prominent Republicans running for governor in a crowded June primary. He did not advance to the general election and later announced plans to run for reelection as sheriff in 2028.

    If it’s tried again in California it’ll be interesting to see if charges/penalties are applied.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago

    Tomorrow we'll find out he accidentally used them as kindling in his fireplace.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 month ago

    It's always the ones you suspect the most?

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  • [–] 9 points 1 month ago

    If he's not sitting in jail for breaking the law, he's just going to do it again.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    What the hell, that's not just election interference, that's treason.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Well technically it didn't interfere with any elections, they were already counted and the election ended a month before he took them.

    It just interferes with record keeping and if he shares the records then he violates the constitution and opens himself to lawsuits.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Ah Riverside, the asshole of California

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  • 1 comment in c/politics@lemmy.dbzer0.com view that post
    [–] 9 points 1 month ago

    There should be criminal and civil penalties for his actions.

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