California sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots in defiance of state officials over election count dispute

A California sheriff and top Republican candidate for governor seized over 650,000 votes from the state's November elections this weekend.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco launched an investigation into the state's November 2025 special election on Proposition 50 after a third-party organization, the Riverside Election Integrity Team, claimed it found roughly 45,000 excess votes. California elections officials have dismissed the team's findings, but Bianco says his office will conduct another count.