California Court Orders Return of 650,000 Seized Ballots

The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco unlawfully seized about 650,000 ballots from the county’s 2025 special election and ordered him to return them to election officials and stop handling them. The court also upheld Attorney General Rob Bonta’s authority to order Bianco to surrender the ballots and halt the investigation, rejecting the sheriff’s claim that a search warrant justified the seizure. Bianco began investigating after a local group alleged an overcount in a redistricting measure’s vote, a claim election officials had called unfounded. Voting-rights advocates warned the seizure could encourage efforts to disrupt election administration and undermine confidence ahead of the midterms. Governor Gavin Newsom said new state protections would help prevent similar incidents.