The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return more than 600,000 ballots he had seized as part of an investigation into voter fraud. It said the court found the seizure unlawful and directed Bianco to give the ballots back to the registrar of voters and to refrain from further handling of them except as necessary to comply with the order.
The Times said the court, in a separate case, ruled that Bianco is not a law unto himself and does have a boss in the form of state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. Bonta had previously ordered Bianco to pause his investigation, and Bianco largely ignored him. The court found that the constitutional authority held by the attorney general includes the power to give binding directions to sheriffs.
The Times reported that the ballots were seized from last year's special election on redistricting. It said the two opinions give another layer of assurance to California residents that the integrity of the November midterm elections is as secure as the state can make it.
The Times also reported that gubernatorial candidate and former Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra has been closely involved in the ballot-seizing case as an advisor to the UCLA Voting Rights Project but has been quiet about it. It said Becerra called the ruling a great victory for voters and said the court strengthened election protection ahead of the November vote.