Bianco-Bonta Election Battle Returns to Riverside Court Today

A Riverside County Superior Court hearing is scheduled today at the Riverside Hall of Justice, continuing the legal standoff between Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and California Attorney General Rob Bonta over Bianco's investigation into the 2025 Proposition 50 special election.

The hearing comes days after California's Supreme Court stepped in, ordering Bianco to pause his investigation while the state's highest court takes up the case. Under that order, Bonta has until April 15 to refile his petition to end the probe entirely, and Bianco will then have 30 days to respond.

Bianco launched the investigation after a local election integrity group filed a complaint, using search warrants to seize hundreds of thousands of ballots and election-related documents from Riverside County. Election officials said the complaint was unfounded. The unsealed warrants, reviewed last week, do not name a suspected crime or any suspect. Bonta responded by filing lawsuits in both county and state court to shut the investigation down.

Both sides are also working through how to preserve the seized ballots while the cases play out.

Today's county hearing is part of the expedited timeline a Riverside judge approved for Bonta's separate, local case against the sheriff.