True to form as a Trump-loving Republican sheriff, and likely just trying to court attention from Fox News and Trump himself, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized 650,000 ballots that were cast in his county in November, claiming they need to be recounted.

At issue are the 650,000 ballots cast for or against Prop 50 in Riverside County in November 2025, and the fuss that Sheriff Chad Bianco and a group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team are causing is especially comical given the the extremely wide margin by which Prop 50 passed statewide. In other words, even if there were some issue in Riverside County, which there does not appear to be, it would be completely moot.

But, these folks probably believe there is some evil Democrat conspiracy going on statewide to stuff ballot boxes, and now as of Sunday, Bianco had the 650,000 ballots seized in order that they can be counted and compared to the number of votes that were recorded. As KTVU reports, the Riverside Election Integrity Team called out a discrepancy between the estimated initial count of votes cast by polling workers, and the number of votes that were recorded — the group claims there was an excess of 45,000 votes.

"This investigation is simple,” Bianco said at a news conference Friday. “Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported."

Both state and local election officials tell the New York Times that this investigation is baseless, and based on a misunderstanding of how the initial vote estimate is made.

Per KTVU, Riverside elections official Art Tinoco earlier told the county's board of supervisors that the intial count being cited by this "integrity" group is meant as a rough estimate, and in the end, the final tally only differed from the vote estimate by 103 votes, or 0.16%.

"County election staff follow detailed procedures established by state and federal law to protect the integrity of the vote and to ensure that every eligible ballot is processed and counted in accordance with those legal requirements," said Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen in a statement to the Times.

Democrats are already decrying Bianco's investigation, and this ballot seizure, as representing a potential threat to the integrity — or perceived integrity — of the upcoming midterm elections in November 2026.

"The Riverside County Sheriff's Office has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections," said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber in a statement. "The sheriff's assertion that his deputies know how to count is admirable. The fact remains that he and his deputies are not elections officials, and they do not have expertise in election administration."

Attorney General Rob Bonta, whom Bianco has accused of trying to illegally interfere in his investigation, said in a letter to Bianco, "Let me be clear: this is unacceptable. Your decision to seize ballots and begin counting them based on vague, unsubstantiated allegations about irregularities in the November special election results sets a dangerous precedent and will only sow distrust in our elections."

California voters approved Prop 50, allowing for a political gerrymander of the state that removed five Republican House seats, by a margin of 3.3 million votes — 7.4 million voting "yes," and 4.1 million voting "no." The ballot measure, championed by Governor Gavin Newsom, was launched in direct response to the Texas legislature conducting a rare mid-decade redistricting at the urging of Trump to potentially remove Democratic held seats in that state.

It remains to be seen whether either the Texas effort or the California one succeeds in gaining new House seats for either party, but Trump has made it clear — as he has with past elections — that he intends to sow chaos, distrust, and confusion in order to cast doubt on any midterm election result he does not like.

And it is easy to see that this latest move by Bianco is meant to curry favor with the Trumpiest of voters in California, as his fortunes — at least according to one recent poll — have been slipping ahead of the June gubernatorial primary.

The last Emerson College poll of 1,000 likely voters had Congressman Eric Swalwell in the lead by three percentage points, at 17%, over Republican commentator Steve Hilton, and six points ahead of Bianco, who was at 11%. The crowded field of Democratic candidates has state Democrats concerned — and pushing for underperforming candidates to drop out soon — because the top two vote-getters could end up being Hilton and Bianco if the Democratic field continues splitting the vote.

The latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll of 3,889 likely voters, conducted between March 9 and March 15, still put Hilton and Bianco ahead of the rest, with 17% and 16% respectively, and had Swalwell and Katie Porter tied at 13%. Billionaire Tom Steyer, who has spent heavily on TV ads in recent weeks, was at 10%. 16% of likely voters in that poll said they were still undecided.

State Democratic party chair Rusty Hicks said that he and the party would be spending "multiple six figures" on weekly polling starting this month and running through May in order to shame the lowest-polling candidates into dropping out. Those candidates include San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former health secretary and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Controller Betty Yee, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond — all of home have consistently polled in the low single digits.

Previously: Governor's Race Reshuffles In New Poll With Swalwell Pulling Ahead, Thank God

Top image: Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. This week marks National Police Week, which sees thousands of police officers from departments across the country coming to Washington DC to honor law enforcement who died in the line of duty. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)