Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a leading Republican candidate for governor, said Monday he has halted his controversial investigation into unfounded claims of election fraud, facing mounting legal challenges and ethical concerns.
In a statement on Monday, Bianco said the investigation was “paused due to politically motivated lawsuits and court filings.”
It was a major reversal for the vocal Trump supporter, who had just last week defended the investigation — and expanded its scope. Bianco’s staff has seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in Riverside County during last November’s election.
Bianco did not provide any other comment other than a media statement or say when or how an investigation might be launched.
Since its beginning, Bianco’s investigation has drawn widespread concern from election monitors and state law enforcement officials, including California Atty. General Rob Bonta. The state’s top lawyer instructed the sheriff to halt his investigation, and has since filed several legal challenges seeking judicial intervention to ensure Bianco does so.
In a state Supreme Court petition filed Friday, Bonta called the case an “unprecedented constitutional emergency” and called on the court to order an immediate halt to the investigation of Bianco.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office acknowledged Monday that Bianco said he would stop the investigation, but said the office is focused on “what the sheriff does, not what he says.”
“We are continuing to pursue action in the California Supreme Court and Riverside (County) Superior Court to enforce our instructions and return these ballots to the Riverside Registrar of Voters,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
In his lawsuit, Bonta argued that Bianco failed to identify a specific crime in the warrant to justify seizing the ballots. The lawsuit also alleges that “the Sheriff’s misguided investigation threatens to create distrust and jeopardize public confidence in the upcoming primary and general elections, not only in Riverside County but throughout the state.”
But the gubernatorial candidate previously reported that his department had received a warrant “approved and signed by a judge” to seize election materials.
He described the investigation as necessary “to determine the validity of allegations of election fraud”, which were raised by a local citizens’ group that conducted its own audit, which claimed the county’s tally was falsely inflated by more than 45,000 votes. County elections officials have vehemently rejected those claims.
The ballots in question are from the November election for Proposition 50, which temporarily redrawn state congressional districts in favor of Democrats in response to partisan redistricting in Republican states, including Texas.
The UCLA Voting Rights Project has also filed an application petition In the California Supreme Court, arguing that all ballots must remain in the custody of the county voter registrar under state law.
Bonta has also raised privacy concerns about ballots left in the custody of the Registrar of Voters, saying that vote by mail ballots “contain confidential information, particularly voter signatures, and are strictly protected from disclosure by California law.”
Times staff writer Hailey Branson-Potts contributed to this report.
