RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican and gubernatorial candidate, has seized over 500,000 ballots from county election officials amid allegations of a count discrepancy in November’s special election.
The move has been met with backlash from local elections officials and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who labeled it 'unprecedented' and suggested it was aimed at eroding confidence in the electoral process.
Bianco stated that his investigation was initiated following complaints from a local citizens group about the accuracy of the vote count for a redistricting measure approved by over 80,000 votes in the county.
Describing his actions as 'fact-finding', Bianco plans to perform a physical count of the ballots to compare with the officially reported results.
Despite the investigation occurring as he campaigns for governor, Bianco insisted it is unrelated to his political aspirations, emphasizing his duty to uncover alleged election irregularities.
County officials have contended that any discrepancies cited by Bianco arose from temporary election workers who may have made errors on handwritten logs, asserting that the machine-counted ballots align closely with official results.
This incident follows a trend seen nationally, where election integrity has become a pervasive issue, particularly among Republican leaders who echo unfounded claims of voting fraud.
Bonta has repeatedly expressed concerns about Bianco's conduct, warning that it is both 'unacceptable' and more likely to foster distrust than resolve issues related to election integrity.
The stakes are heightened as California gears up for a crowded gubernatorial primary, with fears that divided Democratic votes could pave the way for Bianco, among other Republicans, to advance to the election.
