California Supreme Court Tells Sheriff Bianco To Give The Ballots Back

The California Supreme Court did not try the Riverside count. On September 24, it decided who holds the paper. In Cervantes v. Bianco, S295866, Chief Justice Guerrero, for a unanimous court, held that Sheriff Chad Bianco’s seizure of the voted ballots from the November 2025 special election was unlawful under Elections Code section 15551. The court applied the pre-amendment version of the statute, while noting that SB 1418, effective September 19, 2026, made the provision “at least as protective of ballots as preexisting law was” [emphasis added]. The packages go back to Registrar Art Tinoco “forthwith.” The writ supersedes the...