California Attorney General vows ‘legal consequences’ for GOP sheriff who seized ballots

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Thursday that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) will face “legal consequences” after the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that his seizure of roughly 650,000 ballots violated state law.

“He has been found by the highest court in our state to have broken the law,” Bonta said during a press conference shortly after the ruling. “He unlawfully took election materials from the registrar of voters when the elections code very clearly and specifically said he may not do that.”

The ballot seizure case highlights the risks to democracy when election deniers in positions of authority abuse their power to interfere with vote counting. Bianco seized an estimated 650,000 ballots from California’s November 2025 redistricting referendum, acting on a tip from an anti-voting group known for spreading misinformation.

The court ordered Bianco to immediately return the ballots he seized from Riverside County election officials and separately held that Bonta has constitutional authority to issue binding directions to county sheriffs during criminal investigations.

The ruling followed a months-long fight over Bianco’s seizure of ballots from the November 2025 special redistricting election.

Bonta said the immediate consequences are that Bianco must comply with the attorney general’s directives and return the ballots.

“That’s what this case was about: making sure that a law-breaking sheriff follow[s] the law and compl[ies] with it, and be reined in from his lawlessness and law-breaking and illegal conduct,” Bonta said.

Bonta also pointed to legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) earlier this year, spurred by Bianco’s conduct, that imposes criminal penalties going forward for knowingly removing election materials from the custody of local election officials.

“Going forward, there will also be criminal consequences to conduct such as this exhibited by Sheriff Bianco,” Bonta said.

His office is also planning additional action beyond the ballots themselves. 

The Supreme Court ordered the ballots be returned but left unresolved the fate of other seized election materials. Bonta said his office will direct Bianco to return those other materials as well.

“We will be directing Sheriff Bianco to return the non-ballot materials, and based on the court’s orders today and our authority under the California Constitution, we expect those non-ballot materials to be returned promptly to the registrar of voters,” Bonta said.

Bonta repeatedly characterized Bianco’s conduct as unlawful, saying the sheriff “broke the law, violated the law, acted illegally.”