A California Court of Appeal has denied Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta’s emergency request to shut down Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco’s ongoing recount of approximately 650,000 seized ballots.
Bonta rushed to the 4th District Court of Appeal earlier this week in a bid to block Bianco’s court-authorized investigation into a significant 45,896-vote discrepancy in the November 2025 special election regarding Governor Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 redistricting scheme.
Proposition 50 allows the state legislature to redraw congressional maps in a way that could favor Democrats until the 2030 census.
County records reviewed during the sheriff’s investigation reveal that only 611,428 ballots were actually cast in the special election in Riverside County. However, officials certified a total of 657,322 votes, resulting in a troubling and questionable gap.
Bonta has made repeated attempts to intimidate and derail the independent investigation into whether Newsom’s redistricting initiative was passed using questionable means. Bianco, who is a leading Republican candidate for governor in California for the 2026 election, reported that the Attorney General has taken his intimidation tactics to the courts.
“Our embarrassment to law enforcement, Attorney General Rob Bonta, just filed an emergency writ with the court of appeals to stop ballots from being counted in Riverside County,” Bianco explained. “Why in the world would Rob Bonta want that count stopped? Unless he was afraid of what that count would uncover.”
BREAKING: Attorney General Rob Bonta just filed an emergency writ with the court of appeals to stop ballots from being counted.
For those not aware, we are investigating a reported discrepancy of 45,000 votes. pic.twitter.com/V882Ks8ZEt
— Sheriff Chad Bianco (@ChadBianco) March 24, 2026
The Court of Appeal rejected the emergency writ, but its decision did not address the validity of the investigation. According to CalMatters, a three-judge panel essentially advised Bonta to refile in the appropriate Riverside County court. This ruling allows Bianco’s fact-finding mission to proceed, potentially uncovering any irregularities that may have granted Democrats their controversial map-drawing authority.
The outlet notes that Bonta is “evaluating next steps to ensure a swift and appropriate resolution to this matter.”
County Registrar Art Tinoco and state officials have dismissed Sheriff Bianco’s investigation, claiming that the actual discrepancy in the vote count is approximately 103 votes. They attribute the larger gap to a misunderstanding of unprocessed data. Critics of the investigation argue that this larger gap is simply a result of misinterpretation of paperwork or processes.
A Riverside Superior Court judge had previously sided with the sheriff, allowing him to continue his inquiry under a court-appointed special master to ensure independence and transparency. Bianco emphasized that his seizure of the ballots is not intended to count votes either for or against Proposition 50; instead, it is aimed at understanding the reasons behind the discrepancy in the vote count, which could be over 45,000.
Bonta tells CalMatters that Bianco’s investigation is “little more than a fishing expedition meant to sow distrust and undermine public confidence in our elections.”
Bianco countered, “Why would you interfere and obstruct an investigation instead of assist? What are you afraid of? Bonta is a corrupt political activist put in place by Gavin Newsom to run cover for the corruption in Sacramento.”
Allowing this investigation to continue and let the chips fall where they may is actually what would instill more confidence among California voters, not “sow distrust.”
Anytime someone wants to get to the bottom of vote tally discrepancies, we can count on Democrats involved to fight it. Wonder why.
