Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has launched a formal investigation into a significant discrepancy found in last year’s special election records. The probe follows an independent review by a citizen group which revealed a gap of approximately 45,800 ballots between automated machine counts and manual records.
While voting machines registered over 657,000 ballots, the handwritten logs maintained by poll workers accounted for only 611,000 votes. Sheriff Bianco characterized the discrepancy as “massive,” asserting that the investigation is necessary to determine if the mismatch is the result of simple human error or more serious irregularities. He emphasized that the scale of the difference—far exceeding typical minor clerical errors—demands a thorough explanation to maintain public trust in the electoral process. However, county officials like Tinoco have defended the system, suggesting that the manual forms are often completed by temporary employees and are inherently prone to imprecision compared to machine tallies. The investigation has already encountered political resistance at the state level. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, expressed disappointment and skepticism regarding Bianco’s actions. Bonta questioned both the scope and the underlying basis for the probe, highlighting a growing friction between local law enforcement and state officials over election oversight and the verification of voting data in California.
