California sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots amid clash with state officials over vote count | 22 March 2026 | A Republican California sheriff who is running for governor has seized more than 650,000 ballots to investigate an alleged excess of votes. Sheriff Chad Bianco, who oversees Riverside County just east of Los Angeles, began his investigation over the weekend, with his office describing “alleged irregularities” in the county’s elections. The move stemmed from the findings of a third-party, citizens’ election watchdog group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team. The organization claimed to have found an excess of around 46,000 votes in the November special election for Proposition 50, which was a redistricting effort intended to favor Democrats in the midterm elections and was voted into law.