California Supreme Court Halts Sheriff's Election Probe

The California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco on Wednesday to halt his investigation into alleged election fraud involving more than 500,000 ballots from the 2025 special election, pending review of legal challenges to the probe. The ruling requires Bianco to preserve all seized materials without further action, following a request from state Attorney General Rob Bonta last month.

The dispute originated in February over a complaint filed by a local citizens group questioning the ballot count in the November 2025 special election on redistricting in Riverside County. Local election officials informed the county Board of Supervisors last month that the allegations lacked merit. Despite this, Bianco obtained a county judge's approval and seized 1,000 boxes of election materials to pursue the inquiry.

Tensions escalated when Bonta, citing the sheriff's lack of authority over election processes, directed Bianco to stop the investigation. In response, Bianco's office seized an additional 426 boxes of ballots last week, bringing the total to over half a million. Bonta's office argued that the actions undermined public confidence in elections and violated...