The California Supreme Court ordered a local sheriff on Wednesday to halt an investigation into the 2025 election that prompted him to seize more than 650,000 ballots from a local election office.
The sheriff, Chad Bianco, a Republican from Riverside County and a candidate for governor, opened the probe into last year's special election in late February after a group of election activists claimed that vote tallies did not match the number of ballots received. Local authorities swiftly debunked the report.
But Mr. Bianco continued to pursue his investigation, seizing more election materials in late March over the objections of the attorney general of California and the secretary of state, both of whom claimed Mr. Bianco's efforts were based on unsubstantiated claims and risked undermining faith in elections.
In the election in question, Californians voted overwhelmingly to approve new boundaries for congressional districts. The aggressive gerrymander, devised to counter a similar effort by Texas Republicans, could help Democrats flip as many as five seats in this fall's midterms. The Riverside County ballots that Sheriff Bianco seized, which were counted, would not have changed the statewide outcome.
The order from the California Supreme Court requires the sheriff to preserve all parts of his investigation, including the seized ballots, while the court considers the case.
The investigation by Mr. Bianco, a supporter of President Trump, reflects similar efforts by the White House and its allies to seize election materials and discredit previous elections. Mr. Bianco never publicly tied the investigation to his own campaign for governor, but it aligned closely with the president's attention to false claims of election fraud while Mr. Bianco was vying for the president's support in the race.
It never came, as Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Bianco's opponent, Steve Hilton, on Monday.
The investigation has drawn Mr. Bianco into direct confrontation with Rob Bonta, the Democratic attorney general of California. On multiple occasions, Mr. Bonta’s office directed Mr. Bianco to stop his investigation and consult with the attorney general’s office. But Mr. Bianco claimed the investigation was “simple” and within his legal authority.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bonta hailed the decision from the state's highest court, saying in a statement that the decision "reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue sheriff, prohibiting him from continuing this investigation while our litigation continues."
He added: "The Riverside County sheriff willfully defied my direct orders, seized 650,000 ballots, misused criminal investigatory tools and created a constitutional emergency in the process."
Mr. Bianco's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the California Supreme Court halted the investigation, it did not require Mr. Bianco to return the materials. That question will be handled by a lower court, which has hearings set for next week.