About 650,000 ballots that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's office took from the county elections office in February are back in the hands of the county's elections office.
The registrar confirmed on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that it had received the ballots and other election materials, NBC Palm Springs reported. The office said it is working with the state on next steps while it continues to safeguard the materials.
The ballots were cast in the November 2025 statewide special election on Proposition 50, which redrew the state's U.S. House district lines. The Associated Press reported the measure carried both the state and Riverside County, where its margin was about 80,000 votes.
What the court decided
On Sept. 24 the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously against Bianco in two cases: Cervantes v. Bianco, over the seizure itself, and a case brought by Attorney General Rob Bonta over his authority to direct a sheriff.
The justices held that voted ballots must stay with election officials under state law, criminal investigation or not, and that a warrant cannot be used to get around the Elections Code. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote that giving law enforcement unrestricted access to voted ballots "creates a substantial risk to election integrity," according to CalMatters.
The court also found that the attorney general's orders to a sheriff are binding, rejecting Bianco's view that the role is advisory.
What each side says
Bianco said he opened the case after a citizens group in the county told him it had found roughly 45,000 more ballots cast than received. Registrar Art Tinoco has said the group read the data wrong, that the real gap was 103 and that this falls inside the error margin the secretary of state allows.
"The investigation was a lawful and legal investigation into potential election fraud," Bianco said, according to CalMatters, adding that he would look at appeal options, including in federal court. In a message to supporters he said he would follow the rulings but objected to what he described as their message, "that local law enforcement works for Sacramento, not for the people who elected us."
Bonta said the decision shows "that voted ballots belong in the custody of elections officials" and that the attorney general can step in "when sheriffs take improper action."
