Investigation Into Alleged Election Fraud Paused In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Monday he is pausing his controversial election fraud investigation pending the outcome of ongoing legal proceedings.

Bianco was quoted in several media outlets saying his probe was on hold due to “politically motivated lawsuits and court filings.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a petition for review with the state Supreme Court in Attorney General v. Bianco. Among other things, the petition urges that voter ballots and other election materials seized from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters' office by the sheriff's department be preserved.

“We’re continuing to proceed in the California Supreme Court and Riverside [County] Superior Court to secure compliance with our directives and the return of these ballots” to the Riverside County registrar of voters, a spokesperson for Bonta's office told the Los Angeles Times.

Additionally, the UCLA Voting Rights Project has filed a petition to the state Supreme Court arguing that, under state law, all ballots must remain in the custody of the county registrar of voters.

Bianco's Murrieta-based attorney, Robert Tyler, told the Los Angeles Times that his client is waiting for the courts to weigh in on complex legal considerations, such as competing authority between the executive and judicial branches, that must be hashed out.

Pressure on Bianco has been mounting. Critics allege the sheriff is waging a war on nonexistent election fraud as he campaigns to be the next governor of California.

On March 20, the sheriff held a news conference to answer reporters' questions about the probe into possible irregularities in Riverside County tied to the Nov. 4 special election that saw the statewide passage of Proposition 50.

The measure, which redrew California's congressional districts, passed in Riverside County with 56.29% of 657,322 ballots counted in favor.

Bianco had campaigned against Prop. 50, and a third-party election activist group claimed there were ballot-counting mistakes in Riverside County. Riverside County Registrar Art Tinoco has vehemently denied the allegation.

Beginning on Feb. 9, the sheriff's office began serving search warrants at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters' office. Election materials and ballots were seized.

Sheriff's investigators were counting the ballots when a court-appointed special master was ordered to oversee the investigation.

Bonta alleged that the sheriff's department staff was not trained in elections and had no experience counting ballots.

In his latest court filing, the AG claimed Bianco seized 426 additional boxes of election materials last week.

Bianco's opponents contend that the sheriff has shown ongoing support for President Donald Trump — and has sought the U.S. leader's favor, especially during such an important election year.

In a quote to the New York Times, Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party, said in a March 23 article, "It's awfully coincidental that [Bianco] would be taking this high profile and extreme of an action literally two months before he's facing a statewide election."

The California Primary Election is June 2.