California Court Rejects Bonta Bid to Block Bianco Election Fraud Probe

A California appeals court on Tuesday afternoon dealt a setback to Attorney General Rob Bonta's effort to pause an investigation that led to the seizure of more than 650,000 ballots in Riverside County. The ruling handed a procedural win to Bianco, a Democrat-versus-Republican clash that pits Bonta against Bianco, who is running as a Republican for governor and leads in several polls.

The appellate court denied Bonta's petition for a writ of mandate and request for immediate stay for failing to adequately state why the petition was not initially filed at the Riverside County Superior Court. The California Department of Justice said the denial was "based solely on where we filed the case and is not a ruling on the underlying merits of the petition," and said it was evaluating next steps to "ensure a swift and appropriate resolution to this matter."

In the petition filed March 23 in California's Fourth District Court of Appeal, Bonta's office asked for immediate relief, including a stay of Bianco's investigation and a stay of execution of a search warrant signed March 19, 2026. The 70-page filing accused Bianco of running a probe that was "sweeping and unprecedented" and argued California law already provides civil procedures to challenge election results or request a recount, and said Bianco instead used criminal search warrants without establishing probable cause that a felony had been committed, repeatedly noting the March 19 warrant failed to identify a specific felony offense or a particular suspect.

Armed with a warrant signed by a judge, the Sheriff's Department in February seized more than 656,000 ballots cast by Riverside County registered voters in the Proposition 50 election. The Riverside Election Integrity Team alleges there is a roughly 45,000-vote gap between ballots received and ballots counted in that election, which redrew California's congressional districts to favor Democrats. The initiative passed statewide with 64% of the vote and carried Riverside County with 56%.

The county's own registrar flatly rejects that figure. Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco disputes the alleged 45,000-vote gap, calling it a misreading of election data. The actual gap between ballots counted and ballots cast is just 103 votes, Tinoco has said. Bonta's office noted that Tinoco told county supervisors in February that the outside group relied on incomplete information, raw data and handwritten forms not used to determine official vote counts.

Bianco showed no sign of backing down. In an emailed statement Tuesday, Bianco said: "How many crimes has Bonta investigated? Zero. How many times has he sat before a judge with a warrant in an investigation? Zero." He added: "Why would you interfere and obstruct an investigation instead of assist? What are you afraid of?" Bianco also called Bonta "a corrupt political activist put in place by Gavin Newsom to run cover for the corruption in Sacramento."

Bonta had first directed Bianco on Feb. 26 to preserve all seized election materials and pause further action while the attorney general's office reviewed the basis for the investigation, citing concerns that the affidavits supporting the warrants identified no specific felony offense and no particular person believed to have committed one. A second letter sent March 4 warned Bianco not to begin counting seized ballots with sheriff's department employees "who are not trained and have no experience counting ballots." Court exhibits show that on March 5, Bianco emailed the attorney general's office saying he was "complying with the directive of the letter pending further communication," but the sheriff later returned to court and obtained a third warrant on March 19 to restart the ballot count.

The warrants were approved by Judge Jay Kiel, a former prosecutor who ran for the seat in 2022 with Bianco's endorsement. All three search warrants have been sealed by the Riverside Superior Court.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has argued Bianco has no authority to carry out a recount, saying the sheriff's office "has taken actions based on allegations that lack credible evidence and risk undermining public confidence in our elections." Bonta's office also said the California Secretary of State's Office is willing to review the sheriff's allegations "to put to rest any remaining concerns," offering a separate state review even as the attorney general pursues legal action.

Bianco is neck-and-neck with Republican Steve Hilton for the lead in the race for governor, polls show. The investigation has shadowed every step of that campaign. Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, has said the investigation has "absolutely nothing to do" with his campaign, but Kim Nalder, a political science professor at Sacramento State University, called Bianco's seizure of the ballots "extremely concerning, to see a local sheriff interceding in an area that is not really supposed to be his jurisdiction," pointing out that the seizure broke the traditional "chain of custody" over ballots.

With the appellate court directing Bonta to seek relief in a lower court, the next move belongs to the Department of Justice, and the 656,000 ballots remain in the sheriff's custody as the legal battle shifts venues.