All legal documents pertaining to this case obtained by The Riverside Record can be accessed here. All of The Riverside Record’s reporting about Sheriff Chad Bianco’s election investigation can be found here.
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO) has returned ballots and other election-related materials to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters (ROV), according to the registrar’s office.
“The registrar is working with the state to determine the appropriate next steps for the ballots,” the ROV said in an emailed statement to The Riverside Record. “The registrar will continue to safeguard the integrity of the election process and ensure the secure custody and accountability of all election materials.”
The materials were returned to the ROV as a result of last week’s California Supreme Court rulings in which the justices found that the department’s ballot seizure was unlawful and that Attorney General Rob Bonta’s directives to pause the investigation were within the scope of his authority.
The two cases considered by the court were in response the department’s investigation into alleged election irregularities stemming from the November 2025 special statewide election, as first reported by The Record.
According to a court filing, deputies seized 12 pallets containing 1,086 boxes of ballots from the November 2025 special statewide election while executing the February 9 warrant and 11 pallets containing 426 boxes of election-related materials from the November 2025 special statewide election while executing the February 23 warrant. There were no additional materials seized in relation to the March 19 warrant.
Sheriff Chad Bianco did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the return of the materials, but previously said he would comply with the court’s order to return the ballots and Bonta’s directive to return non-ballot election-related materials, pursuant to newly enacted SB 1418.
The news came just hours after attorneys with the UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP), which represented four Riverside County voters in Cervantes v. Bianco, sent a letter to Bianco’s attorneys asking for details about the methods and manner in which the election material would be returned.
“Public transparency in the ballot return process is critical,” the letter said. “Kindly provide your [client’s] plans for returning petitioners’ and other voters’ ballots, including the dates, times and locations in which our clients should be present to observe the transfer of custody.”
It was not immediately clear if the sheriff’s office had received the letter prior to returning the ballots and other election-related materials to the ROV, but the VRP said in a statement to The Record that it was the required course of action.
“The California Supreme Court was clear that Sheriff Bianco unlawfully seized these ballots and was required to return them to the Registrar of Voters,” Sonni Waknin, senior voting rights attorney for the VRP said in a statement to The Record. “Returning the ballots promptly is the first step in restoring the public’s trust. We are proud to have represented our clients in this important case.”
In a statement posted to social media, Supervisor Jose Media, who has been a staunch critic of Bianco, he welcomed the return of the ballots and other election-related material.
“The unlawful seizure of ballots by armed officers was outside the sheriff’s authority and should never have [occurred],” he said. “I am encouraged by the State Supreme [Court’s] ruling, which reinforces the principle that no one is above the law and [strengthens] our democratic institutions and the integrity of our electoral system.”
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