CA-GOV: California asks court to halt Riverside sheriff's recount of 2025 election ballots
Attorney General Rob Bonta is asking a California court to halt the Riverside County Sheriff Department’s effort to recount ballots from the November 2025 special election.
In an unprecedented move, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican who is running for governor, seized roughly 650,000 ballots and began conducting a recount of votes. At a press conference Friday, he characterized the investigation as a “fact-finding mission” that is intended “just as much to prove the election is accurate as it is to show otherwise.”
Bianco is neck-and-neck with Republican Steve Hilton for lead in the race for governor, polls show.
Bonta’s office this month ordered Bianco and the Riverside County Sheriff Department to pause its work, citing “grave concerns” over the legality of the criminal investigation.
https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/bonta-chad-bianco-ballots/