California Redistricting Referendum Ballot Seizure Challenges (State AG)

A pro-voting lawsuit seeking to block the Riverside County Sheriff from investigating claims of voter fraud in California’s overwhelmingly approved redistricting referendum. 

Background

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (AG Bonta) filed a lawsuit in state appellate court challenging Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s seizure of more than 650,000 ballots and investigation into alleged election “fraud” during the overwhelmingly approved statewide redistricting referendum. AG Bonta asserts that the Sheriff “initiated a sweeping and unprecedented criminal investigation into claimed discrepancies between the number of votes that were cast and the number of votes that were counted,” but provided “facially insufficient” evidence to obtain three judicial warrants. The lawsuit seeks to immediately pause the Sheriff’s investigation and block a third judicial warrant to “restart the recount” from being executed. AG Bonta then asks the court to require the Sheriff to comply with AG Bonta’s demands to stop the investigation and order the lower court to quash the third judicial warrant altogether. 

Why It Matters

Sheriff Bianco — a Republican candidate for California governor — plans to conduct a hand recount of the seized ballots in an “unprecedented” move to investigate allegations of election fraud. These actions undermine confidence in elections during the runup to the 2026 midterms, including earlier this year when the FBI seized 2020 election ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, and subpoenaed 2020 election records from Maricopa County, Arizona.

Latest Updates

• Apr. 10, 2026: The Riverside County Superior Court has paused the case pending litigation in the state’s highest court.
• Apr. 8, 2026: The California Supreme Court decided to review Bonta’s petition, and has ordered Sheriff Bianco to halt any seizing or handling of ballots or election materials until the case is resolved.
• Apr. 3, 2026: Bonta filed his reply to Bianco’s response to the petition in the California Supreme Court.
• Apr. 2, 2026: Riverside County Registrar of Voters filed his declaration with the court. The Riverside County Superior Court held a hearing on the expedited briefing schedule.
• Apr. 1, 2026: Bianco filed his response to Bonta’s appeal with the California Supreme Court. Bianco, Sergeant Merrill, and Bianco’s attorney filed their declarations with the California Supreme Court.
• Mar. 27, 2026: Bonta appealed the Court of Appeals Mar. 24 denial to the California Supreme Court, asking the court to stop Bianco’s investigation.
• Mar. 26, 2026: Bonta filed a new petition and filed a motion for an expedited briefing schedule in the Riverside County Superior Court.
• Mar. 24, 2026: The Court of Appeals denied the petition because it was not filed in the appropriate court.
• Mar. 23, 2026: California Attorney General Bonta filed his petition in the state Court of Appeals, asking the court to stop Bianco’s investigation.