Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate for governor in California, has seized over 650,000 ballots from a 2025 special election, leading to a court case with Democratic state officials. Bianco claims he is investigating voter fraud allegations brought by a conservative group, but experts argue that he is mixing up unofficial logs and certified totals. The high-profile seizure could lead to copycat law-enforcement election probes nationwide and undermine trust in elections. The case could also impact other accusations of electoral irregularities, which are largely unfounded. Critics, including Pamela Smith, who heads the voting rights group Verified Voting, argue that Bianco's two separate seizures of hundreds of boxes of ballots seem more like an attention grab than an effort to determine if there was any kind of miscount.