The Digester

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco seized roughly 1,000 boxes of November ballots to investigate claims of inflated vote totals in the Proposition 50 special election, drawing rebukes from California officials who say the probe is unfounded and risks eroding trust in elections.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a leading Republican candidate for California governor, on Feb. 26 seized about 1,000 boxes containing over 650,000 November ballots to investigate alleged tally irregularities.
A local group claimed 45,896 more ballots were counted than cast in the Proposition 50 contest, while County Registrar Art Tinoco said the actual discrepancy was 103 votes, or 0.016 percent.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the seizure unprecedented and said the sheriff has not provided requested documents or cooperated with his office.
Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Bonta warned that sheriff's deputies lack election administration training and said the action risks undermining public confidence in elections.
A Riverside County judge appointed a special master to oversee the count, and Bianco said the hand count will determine whether the certified results were accurate.

Riverside sheriff seizes more than 650,000 ballots in probe by GOP gubernatorial candidate

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