The California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to pause his investigation into the 2025 Proposition 50 special election on Wednesday.
In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the decision "reins in" Bianco, who is one of two major Republican candidates in June's upcoming gubernatorial primary election.
"What the Sheriff says and what he does are often two different things," Bonta said. "Today's decision by the California Supreme Court reins in the destabilizing actions of a rogue Sheriff, prohibiting him from continuing this investigation while our litigation continues."
Bianco's office seized more than 611,000 ballots from the election in which voters overwhelmingly approved a congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Wednesday's order requires the office to preserve all of those ballots.
The probe comes after a local Riverside County group alleged a possible discrepancy of about 45,800 votes between the California Secretary of State and votes counted by electronic machines.
Bianco says the investigation is simply a "fact-finding mission."
"This investigation is simple: Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported," he said during a press conference last month.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber says the probe risks "undermining public confidence in our elections."
A state court denied Bonta's previous appeal to stop the seizure, but Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling means the judges will review his legal challenge.
"The Supreme Court has also agreed to review this case on the merits — a necessary and appropriate response to what is a clearly an unprecedented situation," Bonta said. "We look forward to briefing the Court."
Local election officials say the vote-counting discrepancy is much closer to 100 than the more than 45,000 that the sheriff alleges. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters said it "will continue to comply with all lawful court orders and with all legal obligations applicable to election materials and election administration."
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