A state appellate court has flat-out rejected Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta’s emergency writ to halt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s bombshell investigation into 45,000 extra votes mysteriously counted in the November 2025 special election.
This is the latest chapter in Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s fearless fight against the Sacramento swamp.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican currently in a tight 2026 gubernatorial race with fellow Republican Steve Hilton, moved to seize approximately 650,000 ballots and initiate a recount after a citizens’ group reported significant discrepancies, according to CalMatters.
Sheriff Chad Bianco revealed that a team of 10 investigators had already begun counting ballots before being ordered to halt their work, as part of an ongoing election investigation, The Sun reported.
According to Bianco, the team’s initial progress suggested that counting the approximately 611,000 ballots would take about five days to complete. However, the effort was paused before a full review could be conducted.
The investigation was launched following a complaint filed by a citizen-led election watchdog group. The Riverside Election Integrity Team alleges a discrepancy of roughly 45,000 votes between the number of ballots received and those officially counted in Riverside County during the November election tied to Proposition 50.
AG Bonta’s office had demanded the sheriff’s department pause everything, claiming “grave concerns” and whining that Bianco hadn’t identified a specific crime.
Bonta tried to claim that Bianco, a veteran law enforcement officer, had no “legal authority” to act as an election monitor. He called the investigation a “fishing expedition” and a “threat to democracy.”
Hellbound and Down 