Riverside Sheriff says AG is interfering in election investigation

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is investigating alleged irregularities into the 2025 special election to redraw California’s congressional districts. Now, Sheriff Chad Bianco, also a Republican candidate for governor, says the state’s attorney general is interfering in the investigation.

In February, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department executed warrants for 1,000 boxes of ballots from the Registrar of Voters.

Bianco said the investigation stems from local election watchdog group, Riverside Election Integrity Team. The group alleges there were some 45,000 more votes tallied than ballots received and logged by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

Bianco said the purpose of the investigation is to determine if the allegation has any merit.

“It is basically a fact finding mission. This investigation is simply to physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported,” said Bianco at a press conference Friday.

Bianco said a Riverside Superior Court Judge issued an order last week to appoint a special master to oversee the investigation. He said the investigation will start over soon under the supervision of the court, but it’s not clear when or when it’ll be completed.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sent Bianco three letters between Feb. 26 and March 6 asking Bianco to halt the investigation and share case files with his office.

The letters — reviewed by KVCR — show that Bonta requested case files to understand the basis for the investigation. Bonta also raises concerns about whether there was probable cause for warrants to be issued in the first place. Bonta’s office said there’s no precedent for a law enforcement agency to investigate election irregularities.

In a statement, Bonta said Bianco has not provided the requested information. The statement goes on to say “what we have been able to learn raises serious questions about the merits of this investigation. We are especially concerned with legal deficiencies in the affidavits underlying the warrants, including the omission of material facts.”

Meanwhile, County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said in a statement, “the County and the Registrar of Voters will continue to comply with all lawful court orders and with all legal obligations applicable to election materials and election administration.”