Sheriff Bianco files formal response to California Supreme Court in ballot probe
Update 4/1/26
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco filed his formal response Tuesday at the California Supreme Court, pushing back against Attorney General Rob Bonta's petition to halt the sheriff's investigation into the November 2025 Proposition 50 special election.
The filing marks the first time Bianco's legal arguments have reached the state's highest court in a case that has drawn national attention and pits the state's top law enforcement officer against one of its most prominent county sheriffs and who is also a leading Republican candidate for governor.
Bianco's attorney, Robert H. Tyler of Tyler Law LLP, filed the answer to the petition for review with three supporting declarations from Bianco, lead investigator Sgt. James Merill and Tyler. All are partially redacted to protect material from the conditionally sealed court record, according to the online court docket.
Tyler also filed a motion to seal unredacted versions of the documents,
Court records show Tyler submitted an application for relief from default, indicating the response was filed late or at risk of missing the court-imposed 10 a.m. Deadline.
Tyler also sought permission to exceed the page limit, with the filing containing more than 10 pages of exhibits. The court granted both requests.
News Channel 3 has requested copies of the publicly available redacted filings from the California Supreme Court.
Original Report 3/30/30
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) A hearing scheduled for Monday morning on California Attorney General Rob Bonta's effort to halt Sheriff Chad Bianco's investigation into the November 2025 special election has been continued to Thursday in Riverside County Superior Court.
But the California Supreme Court is moving fast.
The justices today ordered Bianco's legal team to respond to the attorney general's emergency petition by Wednesday morning. The AG will then have until Friday to reply an expedited timeline that signals the state's highest court is taking the case seriously.
Bonta's office, responding to Bianco's claim that the investigation is stalled by politics, told News Channel 3 on Monday:
"Our focus is on what the Sheriff does, not what he says, and we're continuing to proceed in the California Supreme Court and Riverside Superior Court to secure compliance with our directives and the return of these ballots to Riverside ROV."
As News Channel 3 first reported as breaking news Sunday night, the investigation is effectively frozen. Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor, said the probe is "on hold because of the politically motivated lawsuits and court filings."
His private attorney Robert Tyler confirmed to News Channel 3 that the special master Sheriff Bianco said would oversee a ballot count has not been appointed.
"The special master has not yet been appointed by the court," Tyler wrote in an email. "However, because of the filing of the petition in Riverside Superior Court, the court will not designate the special master until the civil lawsuit filed by the attorney general is resolved."
Tyler said the ballots and other evidence seized under the warrants remain under the jurisdiction of the court, with the sheriff's department serving as custodian.
"We will all have to wait for the courts to decide whether the ballots are counted," Tyler said.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is currently in possession of all ballots cast in the November 2025 special election on Proposition 50, the redistricting measure that passed statewide with 64% of the vote and carried Riverside County with more than 56%.
News Channel 3 has requested access to observe the ballots in the sheriff's custody. That request remains pending.
How the investigation began
The probe began after a community group known as the Riverside Election Integrity Team, or REIT, claimed to have identified a discrepancy of 45,896 votes between the number of ballots cast and the number counted in Riverside County.
On Feb. 10, Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco publicly challenged those claims in a presentation to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, explaining that REIT had relied on incomplete data and handwritten forms that are not used by election officials to determine actual vote counts. According to Tinoco, the actual difference in the county's Election Information Management System was 103 ballots.
Members of the sheriff's office were present for that presentation. The sheriff's office nonetheless obtained a second search warrant on Feb. 23 and a third on March 19, ultimately seizing roughly 1,000 boxes of ballot materials.
A legal fight on multiple fronts
Bonta first directed Bianco to pause the investigation on Feb. 26, invoking his constitutional authority to supervise California sheriffs.
Bianco initially said he would comply but then obtained the third warrant on March 19 without notifying the attorney general.
On March 20, Bianco held a press conference saying a judge had issued an order to appoint a special master and that his office was working with the court to finalize.
The attorney general's office has disputed that characterization, saying the warrant authorized only the seizure of materials and did not order a recount or appoint a special master.
Bonta's first legal effort, a petition filed March 23 in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, was denied the following day. The court said Bonta had not demonstrated why the matter could not be addressed in Superior Court — a ruling the attorney general's office said was based solely on venue and did not address the merits.
Bonta then filed the Superior Court petition on March 26. An initial hearing was held Friday and reset to Monday, then continued again to Thursday.
On Friday, Bonta also filed an emergency petition with the California Supreme Court. That petition is separate from one filed March 26 by the UCLA Voting Rights Project on behalf of four Riverside County voters, asking the Supreme Court to order Bianco to return all seized ballots to the Registrar of Voters.
Tyler told News Channel 3 his client hopes the courts will ultimately allow the count to proceed.
"For the sake of election integrity, we hope the courts will ultimately proceed and finalize the designation of a special master who will have independent and neutral jurisdiction," Tyler wrote. "Transparency is the foundation for public trust."
Bianco has maintained the investigation is lawful and has said it has "absolutely nothing to do" with his campaign for governor.
What's next
The case is now moving on two tracks. The California Supreme Court's expedited briefing schedule has Bianco's answer due Wednesday and the AG's reply due Friday.
The Superior Court hearing in Riverside is set for Thursday.
News Channel 3 will be in Riverside for both.
