Community Advocacy Groups Hold Press Conference Opposing Bianco’s Election Investigation

Just one day after a petition was filed with the California Supreme Court on behalf of four Riverside County voters, six community organizations held a press conference opposing gubernatorial candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco’s investigation into election irregularities, first reported by The Riverside Record.

“Transparency in elections is a cornerstone of our democracy,” said Riverside Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes at the event, emphasizing that she was there not as an elected official, but as a concerned resident. “Sheriff Bianco’s investigation is anything but [transparent].”

Cervantes, who is also running for Assembly District 58 and is part of the California Supreme Court petition, told The Record she felt it was important to talk about what was happening both with Bianco’s investigation and the lawsuit.

“It’s important that we don’t stay silent, especially when our democracy and elections are under attack,” she said in an interview with The Record. “We have to make sure that we restore order to the election integrity here at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.”

Also speaking at the event was District 1 Supervisor Jose Medina, who has been outspoken about his support for the Registrar of Voters (ROV) and opposition to the sheriff’s investigation.

“There is no election fraud,” he said at the event. “The only fraud is Sheriff Chad Bianco.”

Medina, who last summer pushed for the county to take a step toward increased oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO), has recently called for Bianco to take a leave of absence from his role as sheriff during his gubernatorial campaign and filed formal complaints requesting an investigation into what he believed to be a misuse of funds by the sheriff.

“It’s an absurd situation that we’re in,” Medina said in an interview with The Record. “I ended by calling Sheriff Chad Bianco a fraud, because I think this is a fraudulent investigation.”

Medina again said he felt Bianco’s press conference was more of a campaign event than an event meant to inform the public. 

Earlier Friday morning, the Bianco for Governor campaign sent out an email blast telling people his office was “lawfully investigating a MASSIVE discrepancy from the November 2025 special election.” The email included three calls for donations.

“This isn’t just sheriff acting,” District 5 Supervisor candidate Lisa Matus said at the event, echoing Medina. “This is a candidate acting, a candidate for governor.”

Matus was in court ahead of the event for her own lawsuit against the ROV in which she and another District 5 Supervisor candidate, Eric Stalter, asked the Riverside County Superior Court to intervene and allow them to be on the ballot for the June 2 primary. The judge in the case denied the petition, finding that the ROV acted in accordance with election code.

Also happening that morning was a hearing on motions by Attorney General Rob Bonta to both expedite the legal process and have a court approve the filing of redacted documents in the petition filed with the Riverside County Superior Court to halt the investigation. Due to a miscommunication, Bonta’s attorneys were not in attendance. A new hearing on re-filed motions has been set for Monday morning.

But the impact of Bonta’s petitions, including one dismissed by the appellate court, was clear at Friday’s event, with many speakers quoting from the court filings. 

“Actions like this risk undermining the will of the voters and eroding trust in outcomes…without any credible evidence of wrongdoing,” Joan Donahue, president of the League of Women Voters Riverside (LWVR), said. “According to Attorney General Bonta, the sheriff’s actions lack legal basis, violate state election laws and threaten public confidence.”

The event was a joint effort by the Riverside Sheriff Accountability Coalition (RSAC), IE United, Starting Over Inc., Starting Over Strong, Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice and LVWR and was held outside of the ROV’s office. 

The goal, the groups said, was to ring the alarm about what they called an “inappropriate and politically motivated intrusion of law enforcement into election administration.”

“Sheriff Chad Bianco’s failure to adhere to the law, in general, and voting laws, in particular, raise serious questions about power, accountability and the integrity of this elected official,” she said. “It doesn’t call into question the integrity of our elections as much as it calls to question the character of a candidate and the lengths to which he will go to gain attention and create chaos to further a failing and stagnant campaign.”

Quarles, who is also part of IE United and RSAC, said she wasn’t there on behalf of any organization, but rather as a concerned citizen. In closing her speech, she called on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to “finally take action” to hold Bianco accountable.

“What we are witnessing should concern every single voter and every supervisor in this county, regardless of party affiliation,” said Vonya Quarles, co-founder of Starting Over, Inc. “The heist and handling of over 650,000 ballots by a sitting sheriff who was also running for governor is wrong.”

On Wednesday, District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez became the second to speak out in support of the ROV, saying that he “reluctantly supported the effort to verify the vote count” earlier this year, but was now concerned.

“At the time, I did not know the number of deputies required or the time it would take to count the ballots. We still don’t know those numbers,” he said in a statement posted to social media. “I fear that this exercise will take resources away from frontline programs related to infrastructure, housing, animal services, veterans, and social services.”