California Supreme Court orders Riverside County sheriff to pause election ballot investigation

The California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to pause his investigation into the 2025 Proposition 50 special election on Wednesday.

In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the decision "reins in" Bianco, who is one of two major Republican candidates in June's upcoming gubernatorial primary election.

"What the Sheriff says and what he does are often two different things," Bonta said. "Today's decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue Sheriff, prohibiting him from continuing this investigation while our litigation continues." 

After the decision, Bianco said, "We are happy with the ruling" in a video posted on social media, during which he states his confidence that the court would eventually allow his investigation to continue. 

"We will have arguments presented to them for the merits of our case, and for them to basically, eventually, we are very confident they will allow us to continue this investigation, despite the Attorney General's attempts to cover it up," Bianco says in the video.

Bianco's office seized more than 611,000 ballots from the election in which voters overwhelmingly approved a congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Wednesday's order requires the office to preserve all of those ballots.

The probe comes after a local Riverside County group alleged a possible discrepancy of about 45,800 votes between the California Secretary of State and votes counted by electronic machines. 

Bianco says the investigation is simply a "fact-finding mission."

He recently said in late March that his probe was put on hold due to "politically motivated lawsuits and court filings."

"This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported," he said during a press conference last month.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber says the probe risks "undermining public confidence in our elections."   

A state court denied Bonta's previous appeal to stop the seizure, but Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling means the judges will review his legal challenge. 

"The Supreme Court has also agreed to review this case on the merits — a necessary and appropriate response to what is clearly an unprecedented situation," Bonta said. "We look forward to briefing the Court."  

Local election officials say the vote-counting discrepancy is much closer to 100 than the more than 45,000 that the sheriff alleges. Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said it "will continue to comply with all lawful court orders and with all legal obligations applicable to election materials and election administration."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a jab at Bianco on social media after the decision came down, calling him a "rogue sheriff" who "chased conspiracy theories, tried to undermine our elections, and got the ruling he deserved." He also called the investigation a "destructive MAGA election rigging scheme."

Bianco responded by saying, "Reading comprehension isn't Gavin's specialty."

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump endorsed Steve Hilton, Bianco's Republican counterpart in the gubernatorial race for California Governor.