Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco removed ballots from the custody and control of the local registrar of voters.
Posted by What A Day, Checked
- Sources
- 6 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 92%
What A DayOct 22, 2026
The California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of about 650,000 ballots was unlawful because California law requires ballots to remain in the custody and control of the county registrar of voters, and the sheriff was ordered to return them, which he did on September 29, 2026.
What was said
… They remain accurate, reliable, safe, secure. And what went wrong with the Riverside Sheriff seizing ballots is he acted lawlessly as a law enforcement officer, completely embarrassing and inappropriate, and he removed ballots from the custody and control of the local elections official, the local registrar of voters in Riverside County. That, uh, that was never to happen. The law prevents that removal of the ballots from the custody and control of the registrar of voters, and he failed at the time to comply with my binding directions to him as, uh, his, uh, as someone who, under the …
What A Day · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The California Supreme Court held the seizure unlawful, saying California law requires ballots to remain in the custody and control of election officials even during a criminal investigation.[1][2]
Supports. The Supreme Court ordered Bianco to return the ballots to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, and he returned approximately 650,000 ballots on September 29, 2026.[3][4]
Supports. Sources describe the ballots as taken from the county registrar of voters, consistent with the claim's custody-and-control language.[5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 3 primary, 2 not rated
- 1California Supreme Court orders Riverside County sheriff to return 650,000 seized ballotsapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Opinion S295866supreme.courts.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Riverside County Sheriff returns seized ballots after ...newsroom.courts.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Attorney General Bonta Secures Major Victories from State'…oag.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 5California sheriff broke election law by seizing ballots ...ijpr.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6California sheriff broke election law by seizing ballots, state ...kvcr.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The California State Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return 650,000 ballots.True
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