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California sheriff unlawfully seized over 650,000 ballots and must return them, state Supreme Court rules
CBS News Los Angeles ^ | 09/24/2026 | Matthew Rodriguez

Posted on 09/24/2026 11:07:08 AM PDT by DFG

The California Supreme Court ruled that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco violated the state's election law by ordering his deputies to seize more than 650,000 ballots tied to the Proposition 50 special election.

The justices ruled unanimously in two cases against Bianco, stating that he violated the law when he seized the ballots and also ignored directives from Attorney General Rob Bonta.

The court ordered Bianco to cease his investigation into election fraud claims and return the ballots to county officials. The court also said he must "refrain from further handling of the ballots except as necessary to comply with our order."

"In short, Bianco's arguments fail to persuade us that we should interpret section 15551 in a manner inconsistent with its plain text, which mandates that voted ballots remain in the custody of elections officials," the court wrote in its ruling.

When the Riverside County Sheriff's Office seized the ballots earlier this year, Bianco, who lost his bid for California governor in the primaries, seized more than 611,000 ballots from the special election in which voters approved a redistricting measure that shifted five of California's Republican U.S. House seats to be more favorable to Democrats in the midterm elections this year.

Bianco claimed his agency was investigating a complaint from a local group alleging a possible discrepancy in which about 45,800 more votes were reported to California's Secretary of State. He described the probe as a "fact-finding mission."

The investigation faced fierce backlash, including legal challenges from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, UCLA's Voting Rights Project, whose lawsuit resulted in the court's decision, and local leaders in Riverside who petitioned to have the ballots returned to the Registrar's Office.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: US: California
KEYWORDS: ballots; california; chadbiano; democrattruth; fraudtruth; prop50; proposition50; riverside; riversidecounty; robbonta; votetruth
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1 posted on 09/24/2026 11:07:08 AM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG

When the judges are accomplices to fraud should the sheriff just arrest them too?


2 posted on 09/24/2026 11:15:55 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: DFG

The right of the Democrats to embezzle elections shall not be infringed.


3 posted on 09/24/2026 11:23:14 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The right of the Democrats to embezzle elections shall not be infringed. )
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To: MtnClimber

yes


4 posted on 09/24/2026 11:25:27 AM PDT by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: DFG

More of the giant cluster-f*** which is mail in voting

uneven and unequal standards in ballot design, ballot issuance, ballot collection, ballot verification, and ballot counting

Its fundamentally corrupt


5 posted on 09/24/2026 11:29:20 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: DFG

“The court ordered Bianco to cease his investigation into election fraud claims”


6 posted on 09/24/2026 11:33:55 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: MtnClimber

The CA SC is a pack of hacks. They have welded the door shut and they will not vote their way out of this.


7 posted on 09/24/2026 11:36:08 AM PDT by gibsonguy ( )
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To: MtnClimber

The sheriff should get those ballots over to the Feds. Get Trump on the phone


8 posted on 09/24/2026 11:37:36 AM PDT by pleasenotcalifornia
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To: DFG

What is it they always say?

Nobody is above the law?

Except black robbed traitors?


9 posted on 09/24/2026 11:42:46 AM PDT by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
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To: DFG

The absolute corruption in our judicial system is just rampant. Judges have become black robed tyrants who rule based on their politics, not the constitution or law. This California Supreme Court is a perfect example. Despite the rampant fraud in Calf elections, supported by their law, the court says the laws must be followed and not investigated.


10 posted on 09/24/2026 11:49:46 AM PDT by falcon99 ( )
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To: DFG

The Sheriff can investigate all he wants. He can investigate the judge, too. It’s time one of these black robed tyrants stayed in the crowbar hotel.


11 posted on 09/24/2026 11:58:24 AM PDT by Seruzawa ("The political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence." -Marx the Smarter (Groucho.))
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To: DFG

Like the Army when they decide to get rid of old paperwork, make a copy first. Return the originals.


12 posted on 09/24/2026 12:23:06 PM PDT by The Louiswu (USA FIRST...USA FOREVER)
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To: Seruzawa

“The Sheriff can investigate all he wants. He can investigate the judge, too. It’s time one of these black robed tyrants stayed in the crowbar hotel.”
___________________________________________________________

The Riverside County Sheriff has no jurisdiction to investigate judges or voting roles under California law. If he were to attempt what you suggest, he’d quickly be found in contempt by the Supreme Court.

In California, as in many states, all Sheriffs and District Attorneys are under the general supervision of the state Attorney General. The AG can have either removed from active management of their offices if any misconduct or malfeasance is involved.


13 posted on 09/24/2026 12:24:12 PM PDT by Bob Wills is still the king (Wake up and smell the coffee!)
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To: BenLurkin
Thank you for posting BenLurkin.

“The court ordered Bianco to cease his investigation into election fraud claims”


Bianco swore to protect and defend the Constitution which includes Section 2 of the 14th Amendment (14A), a penalty for states that rig the ballot box, Section 2 trumping state law imo.

Excerpted from 14A:

Section 2 of 14A: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election [all emphases added] for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. [Apportionment of Representatives]

14 posted on 09/24/2026 12:52:38 PM PDT by Amendment10
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To: PGR88

> More of the giant cluster-f*** which is mail in voting <

I’m guessing the Democrats will eventually push for internet voting nationwide. Then the fun will really begin.


15 posted on 09/24/2026 12:57:44 PM PDT by Leaning Right
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To: DFG

What happened to forcing officials to Ignore Unlawful Orders.


16 posted on 09/24/2026 1:12:57 PM PDT by midwest_hiker
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