A California court has unsealed the secret warrants that the Riverside County sheriff used to seize hundreds of thousands of ballots. The warrants raise questions as to whether the sheriff’s investigation is valid.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican and candidate for governor, obtained the warrants to seize 650,000 ballots to investigate an alleged vote count discrepancy in the Prop. 50 special election last year.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called into question the validity of the evidence used in the investigation in multiple court filings. Last week, a consortium of news organizations filed a lawsuit arguing that the warrants should be made public. Riverside Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane ordered the warrants unsealed on Wednesday.
Authorities unsealed three warrants from Feb. 9, Feb. 23 and March 19. The Feb. 9 warrant gave the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department
ermission to seize the ballots. The affidavit for the Feb. 23 warrant asks for permission to seize “any and all information” that related to the Prop 50 election.
Loyola Marymount University law professor Justin Levitt said probable cause must be established to get a warrant, and these warrants show that didn’t happen.
“Most disturbingly, there doesn't seem to be any indication of criminal wrongdoing,” said Levitt.
The final warrant asks permission for Bianco's department to count the ballots. Levitt said search warrants are an authorization by a court to search for and seize evidence of a crime and that a search warrant can’t authorize the counting of ballots.
“If you want authorization to count the ballots, what you're asking for is an election procedure,” said Levitt. " “There are different channels to that election procedure, which happen in the aftermath of an election.”
Bianco said his investigation was spurred by a tip from the Riverside Election Integrity Team (REIT). REIT alleges that more 45,000 more ballots were counted than cast in last year’s statewide Proposition 50 election. In that election, Californians voted overwhelmingly to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats.
At a February 10 Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting, Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco said REIT’s allegations were based on a misunderstanding of the ballot counting process. State officials including California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta have also discredited the fraud claims.
Last week, Bianco paused the investigation due to mounting legal pressure. The AG’s office said they would continue to seek a ruling from a judge, which they got on Wednesday.The California Supreme Court halted Bianco’s investigation while it reviews the case.