Calif. Sheriff Investigates ‘Massive’ Ballot Discrepancy In Special Election

Riverside County, California, Sheriff Chad Bianco has launched an investigation into a significant discrepancy between machine-counted ballots and handwritten logs from last year’s special election, raising questions about the accuracy of the vote count.

According to county officials, voting machines recorded more than 657,000 ballots cast. However, an independent review conducted by a group of citizens found that handwritten logs maintained by poll workers and election staff reflected just over 611,000 votes, ABC News reported.

The difference of roughly 45,800 ballots prompted Bianco to open a formal investigation. He said the goal is to determine whether the discrepancy is the result of human error or a more serious issue.

“I’m not saying anyone is lying, or there’s a series of mistakes,” Bianco said during a news conference. “I’m saying I don’t know,” he said.

“We’re not talking about ten, we’re not even talking about a thousand,” Bianco added. “We’re talking about the difference between having a perfect count and a 45,800 vote difference. That’s massive,” he said.

As part of the investigation, sheriff’s deputies recently executed search warrants at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters office, seizing multiple boxes of ballots from the 2025 special election. Bianco said a superior court judge has authorized the appointment of a special master to oversee the review process. The ballots will be recounted under that supervision.

“The purpose of this investigation is just as much to prove the election is accurate as it is to show otherwise,” Bianco, a Republican who is running for California governor, said. “We will not know until the count is complete.”

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco has defended the official machine count, suggesting the discrepancy may stem from errors in handwritten documentation rather than issues with the ballots themselves.

“Those documents are completed by temporary employees that are out in the field collecting them, and working at these sites,” Tinoco said at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting. “So those forms, again, may come back and the counts may be imprecise, because again, it’s humans completing the document,” he said.

The investigation has drawn sharp criticism from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, who questioned both its scope and its basis.

“I was surprised and disappointed by Sheriff Bianco’s statements in his press conference,” Bonta said. “Sheriff Bianco’s investigation is unprecedented in both scope and scale — and appears not to be based on facts or evidence but on unfounded allegations that have already been refuted by the Riverside Registrar of Voters,” he said.

Bonta also said his office was concerned after learning that the sheriff planned to seize ballot materials related to the election. He said those concerns were communicated to Bianco in letters sent over the past month.

Bianco confirmed receiving the letters and said he was troubled by what he described as resistance to the investigation.

“The outrage that an investigation was happening was extremely concerning to me,” Bianco said.

The probe remains ongoing as officials prepare to conduct a full review of the ballots under court supervision. Authorities have not announced a timeline for when the recount or investigation will be completed.