The California legislature and the governor have imposed criminal liability on individuals who remove ballots from the custody and control of local elections officials.
Posted by What A Day, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
What A DayOct 22, 2026
California's SB 73, passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Newsom on 2026-05-27, makes it a crime to knowingly take a package of voted ballots from elections officials' custody, so the claim holds as of 2026-10-22.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… So he was ordered to return the ballots. We inspected them and determined that there was no interference with them; their integrity remained intact. And going forward, the legislature, and its wisdom, with the governor here in the State of California, have imposed additional liability on those who do what the Riverside County Sheriff, Sheriff Chad Bianco, did, which is there will be criminal liability going forward if such conduct occurs. So if Sheriff Bianco sees fit to engage in a similar act going forward, he will be held criminally liable. We'll get back to my conversation with Attorney General Bonta in just a moment. What a Day is brought to you by Built. …
What A Day · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Governor Newsom's office reports he signed SB 73 (Cervantes and Umberg) on 2026-05-27, which establishes criminal penalties for knowingly taking ballots from election officials and makes taking a package of voted ballots from elections officials' custody punishable by a fine, up to three years' imprisonment, or both.[1]
Supports. A Secretary of State brief describes SB 73 as adding provisions to penalize future violations of the rule that voted ballots may not be taken from the elections official's custody, and notes civil enforcement under Elections Code 18564.5.[3]
Supports. The Secretary of State's penalty provisions digest, updated 2026-10-02, lists criminal penalties under Elections Code 18568 for tampering with ballots and ballot containers.[2]
Supports. The California Supreme Court held that removing ballots from the registrar's custody violated Elections Code 15551(d), which requires voted ballots to remain in the elections official's custody, reinforcing the custody rule that the criminal provisions protect.[4]
Context. The post's remark concerned the Riverside County Sheriff's removal of ballots, which the court ordered returned; the post's 'going forward' framing matches the SB 73 penalties enacted before the 2026-10-22 post.[1][4]
Sources
4 sources: 2 primary, 2 not rated
- 1Governor Newsom signs legislation to further protect ...gov.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 2Penalty Provisionssos.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3No. S295866 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE ...statecourtreport.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Cervantes v. Bianco, S295866 (Cal. 2026) - Justia Lawlaw.justia.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco removed ballots from the custody and control of the local registrar of voters.True
- The California Supreme Court ruled that Sheriff Chad Bianco violated state election law by seizing 650,000 ballots for the Prop 50 special election on redistricting.True
- The Deputy Attorney General of the United States sent a letter to the state of California warning of potential criminal exposure for tabulating ballots identified by the administration as likely from non-citizens.True
- The federal government is conducting enforcement actions related to voter fraud in California.True
- California's mail-in ballot system sends millions of ballots to people who have moved out of state or to multiple addresses.False