Riverside County Sheriff Insists Election Investigation Is Not Politically Motivated

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is continuing to investigate alleged local irregularities tied to the 2025 California Special Election that saw the passage of Proposition 50, despite criticism that his recent actions are politically motivated.

The Republican sheriff, who is running for California governor, held a defiant news conference Friday in which he promised to resolve allegations of local fraud in the Nov. 4 statewide special election. He also offered barbed attacks against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and was dismissive of Riverside County Registrar Art Tinoco.

Proposition 50, which redrew California's congressional districts, passed in Riverside County with 56.29% of 657,322 ballots counted in favor.

But a third-party election activist group alleges the number is off by 45,896 ballots.

Tinoco rejected the allegation during a Feb. 10 public hearing of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The registrar said he believes the activist group used unaudited raw data in its calculations, rather than verified "good ballots," which are signature-verified, timely, and unspoiled.

(To view Tinoco's full presentation, watch the Feb. 10 Board of Supervisors meeting. He begins speaking at about the 4-hour-10-minute mark.)

During Friday's news conference, Bianco gave little credence to Tinoco's presentation when asked about it. Instead, the sheriff said his office is on a fact-finding mission.

"[Our] investigation is simple," the sheriff said. "Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported."

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 in the process of counting the ballots when a court-appointed special master was ordered to oversee the investigation. It's unclear when the investigation will conclude, according to the sheriff.

Bonta contacted Bianco amid the sheriff's investigation, but got no response, according to written correspondence, which Patch obtained through the sheriff's department. The AG expressed serious concerns about the investigation and whether probable cause existed to support issuance of the warrants.

According to Bonta's correspondence, the sheriff's made no mention about the registrar's Feb. 10 presentation when the law enforcement agency filed the affidavit for a Feb. 23 warrant.

Tinoco's presentation "addresses the alleged vote discrepancy that appears to be the purported basis of your investigation," Bonta wrote in a March 4 letter to Bianco.

In the letter, Bonta alleged that the sheriff's department staff is not trained in elections and has no experience counting ballots. During Friday's news conference, Bianco dismissed the criticisms, called Bonta "an embarrassment to law enforcement," and said the AG is just trying to stymie the investigation.

In a Feb. 26 letter to Bianco, Bonta said he takes any concerns about potential election irregularities seriously.

Bianco's opponents point out 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.

The sheriff has also weighed in on Prop. 50.

Trump pressured Republican-led states to gerrymander congressional districts in an effort to secure strong GOP results in the November 2026 midterms. In response to the gerrymandering, California Democrats successfully brought Prop. 50 to state voters. Bianco criticized the initiative and urged his followers to vote no.

As Bianco's investigation unfolds, there is concern that future voter turnout could be affected.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has criticized the sheriff's investigation, saying his office "has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections."

During the Feb. 10 Riverside County board meeting, Supervisor Karen Spiegel said that concerns about election integrity keep voters from casting ballots.

"This is turning people off," she said.