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California high court rules Riverside County ballot seizure unlawful

The state Supreme Court ordered the sheriff’s office to return remaining election materials after finding it lacked authority to seize the ballots.

Image credit: michael h j c / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; archival 2009 Riverside County Courthouse photo

The California Supreme Court ruled September 24 that the Riverside County sheriff’s seizure of more than half a million ballots from the 2025 Proposition 50 election was unlawful. According to the Los Angeles Times, the court ordered the sheriff’s office to immediately return all remaining ballots and election materials.

What it means locally

The sheriff’s office seized roughly 650,000 ballots while examining claims about the county’s vote count. Riverside County election officials said the claimed discrepancy resulted from a misunderstanding of preliminary data and did not affect the election outcome.

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote that election-misconduct allegations are serious but must be handled through established Elections Code procedures that preserve the custody and integrity of voted ballots. The accompanying 2009 Riverside County Courthouse photograph is archival and illustrative; it does not show the Supreme Court proceedings.

Full report and further details: Read original report →