California Court Lets Riverside Sheriff’s Prop 50 Ballot Probe Proceed, Rejects Bonta Appeal on Venue Grounds

A California appellate court on Tuesday denied Attorney General Rob Bonta’s bid to halt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s election‑fraud investigation into the Prop 50 redistricting vote, a rejection Bonta’s office says was based solely on where the case was filed rather than the merits. Bianco, a Republican sheriff now running for governor, has seized more than 611,000 ballots from the special election approving new congressional maps that made five GOP‑held U.S. House seats more favorable to Democrats, saying he is probing a local group’s complaint about an alleged 45,800‑vote discrepancy and framing his effort as a simple physical recount. Secretary of State Shirley Weber and county election officials counter that the discrepancy claim "lacks credible evidence," say certified machine and final counts differed by only about 100 votes, and argue Bianco and his deputies lack legal authority or expertise to conduct their own review of ballots. Bonta’s office accuses the sheriff of defying constitutional limits and notes he sought a search warrant without identifying any specific crime, warning that such rogue investigations by non‑election officials risk eroding public confidence in legitimate results. The fight unfolds against a crowded gubernatorial primary in which Bianco has been polling near the top, raising concern among election‑law experts and some commentators that law‑enforcement‑driven “audits” could become a politicized template in close or high‑stakes races.