A California judge tossed out a petition to block gubernatorial candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco from investigating ballots from a 2025 special election. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
A court denied the California attorney general’s request to stop a county sheriff’s investigation into election fraud Tuesday.
The case was filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, who said the denial was based on a technicality. The court’s rejection is “based solely on where we filed the case and is not a ruling on the underlying of the petition,” Bonta’s office said.
“The facts have not changed. The Riverside County Sheriff continues to directly defy the Attorney General’s instructions, in violation of the California Constitution and state law,” Bonta’s office said. “We are evaluating next steps to ensure a swift and appropriate resolution to this matter.”
Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is running for California governor, said Friday that he is investigating allegations by an activist group that alleged the reported tallies don’t match the ballots in the 2025 special election for Proposition 50, asking voters for endorsement to redraw the congressional districts in response to other Republican-led states, like Texas, redrawing their districts to pick up seats.
Bianco seized more than 650,000 ballots Friday for the investigation, with two warrants signed by a judge. Bonta sent Bianco a letter March 6 alleging, “my office has serious concerns as to whether probable cause existed to support the issuance of the warrants and whether your office presented the magistrate with all material evidence as required by law.”
Bianco said that since a judge approved the warrant, “Bonta’s opinion means absolutely nothing.”
Bianco said investigating the election had “absolutely nothing to do” with his run for governor.
“I have a duty to investigate alleged crime in Riverside County,” he said.
“Well, well, well, the political corruption in California just gets bigger and bigger,” Bianco said in a social media video Monday night after Bonta filed the petition in the appeals court, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“Why in the world would Rob Bonta want that count stopped unless he was afraid of what that count would uncover?” he said. “We have an extremely politically biased appeals court, so this is going to be interesting.”
Kim Nalder, a political science professor and director of the Project for an Informed Electorate at Sacramento State, told The L.A. Times that Bianco’s investigation appears to be “an electoral ploy.”
“At this stage in the election, most voters haven’t really tuned into the gubernatorial race, and there are a ton of candidates,” she said. “People who don’t know his background will know now. This is clear signaling.”
On Friday, Bianco said that a Riverside County Superior Court judge had ordered a special master appointed to oversee the count.
“This isn’t about counting yes and no votes,” Bianco said in his Monday video. “This is simply counting the total ballots and comparing that total with the number of votes. … Plain and simple. Common sense.”
The California primary is June 2.
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First lady Melania Trump speaks during the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit roundtable event in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
