California Prop 50 ballots seized as sheriff orders court-supervised hand count

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized about 650,000 ballots from California’s Prop 50 redistricting vote and will conduct a court-supervised hand count after complaints of a large discrepancy; California AG Rob Bonta criticized the move, noting the actual discrepancy was roughly 103 ballots and questioning the warrants’ basis. The effort, framed as a verification, follows other national election-security actions and critics say it’s driven by election-denier conspiracy theories and could involve federal authorities.