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4w ago

Judge Fast-Tracks Bonta’s Case Over Riverside Ballot Seizure as Media Seek Unsealing

The fight tests control of ballots versus access to sealed warrant records.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he has found an overcount of more than 49,000 votes in the Prop 50 election, which was approved by more than 3.3 million votes. 
Chad Bianco, the gubernatorial candidate and Riverside County Sheriff, argued in court that California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s political motives disqualify him from holding sway over the Prop 50 voting probe.

Overview

  • Riverside County Superior Court set an expedited schedule in the attorney general’s lawsuit and will hear the merits on April 13.
  • A coalition of news outlets asked courts to unseal the search warrants and sworn affidavits that authorized the ballot seizure, citing a ten-day disclosure rule and strong public interest.
  • Sheriff Chad Bianco told the California Supreme Court that Attorney General Rob Bonta lacks authority to stop his probe because of partisan ties to Proposition 50.
  • Bianco said he has paused the review while the county registrar says the alleged 45,000-vote gap stems from misread intake logs and puts the variance near 103 votes.
  • The sheriff’s office still holds more than 600,000 Proposition 50 ballots as cases proceed in Riverside Superior Court and at the state Supreme Court in Cervantes v. Bianco.