California sheriff running for governor seizes 650k ballots in 2025 election audit

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate for California governor, says he seized more than 650,000 ballots as part of a citizen-backed audit of the 2025 election. Officials say the group’s hand-written records are unreliable and that the official tallies differ from certified results by only 103 ballots (0.016%), far from mass fraud. State officials criticized the move, while experts warned that involving law enforcement in ballot handling could undermine normal election procedures and public confidence.