Overview
- Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said volunteers flagged a 45,896-vote gap between handwritten intake logs and certified results, prompting his office to seek a physical count.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta countered that certified systems show a 103-vote difference and said the sheriff has not cooperated in good faith.
- Bonta’s Feb. 26 letter requested a brief pause and the warrant affidavits, noting roughly 1,000 boxes of ballots and materials had been seized for the November 2025 special election.
- A March 4 letter warned against using untrained sheriff’s staff to count ballots, raised concerns about probable cause in the affidavits, and signaled potential legal action.
- Bianco said a hand count began and was halted, and that it will restart under court supervision with a special master after a local judge authorized the process.