Tag Archive for: California

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UCLA Voting Rights Project Files Petition with California Supreme Court to Stop Illegal Vote Count By Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alberto Lammers; alammers@luskin.ucla.edu 

UCLA Voting Rights Project Files Petition with California Supreme Court to Stop Illegal Vote Count By Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco

LOS ANGELES (March 26, 2026) – The UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP), along with VRP Senior Voting Rights Advisor and former California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, filed a petition with the California Supreme Court today asking them to direct Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return all seized ballots to their rightful place at the Riverside County Registrar of Voters Office.

The VRP lawsuit contends that under multiple provisions of California law, all voted ballots have to remain in the custody of the County Registrar of Voters, and ballots are not permitted to be handled, canvassed, or counted by anyone outside the official elections staff.  The lawsuit further contends that Sheriff Bianco’s attempt to use criminal investigation authority does not override the Legislature’s clear commandments on the handling of election materials.

During his press conference on March 20, 2026, Mr. Bianco admitted that his office had seized and begun counting cast ballots from the 2025 Special Election. While Mr. Bianco does have the power of investigation, he does not have any legal authority to remove ballots from the Registrar of Voters’ office, and he does not have any legal authority to preside over a recount. Importantly, none of these things can occur outside of public view, as has been the case.  

Further, as the Attorney General has noted, the suspicions Sheriff Bianco asserts are insufficient to support tarnishing the vote totals as announced by Riverside County after the election. Riverside County has a proven track record of accurately tabulating ballots.  According to data from the Riverside County elections website, and crosschecked against the California Secretary of State website, in every election from November 2020 to November 2025, the final vote tally before certification has matched the final certified vote tally by 99.7% or higher. In all five elections, the Riverside certified vote tally matches to 100% the California Secretary of State certified vote tally to the exact same number.  (See Table 1 on the following page).

Becerra, VRP Senior Voting Rights Advisor, stated, “Our election laws are clear: voter ballots are sacred and must be protected from tampering. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is supposed to enforce the law, not break it. His reckless seizure of more than 650,000 ballots from the 2025 special election and his attempt to oversee a recount not only violate California election law but are based on no credible evidence whatsoever. Law enforcement officials are legally prohibited from interfering in counting ballots, in California and nationwide.”

Chad Dunn, Director of Litigation of the VRP and adjunct professor in the UCLA School of Law and Luskin School of Public Affairs, stated, “The UCLA Voting Rights Project was established to train new voting rights practitioners in the constant struggle to protect our democracy by ensuring the rule of law governs elections. It is fitting that the VRP, with its election law expertise, steps in on behalf of Riverside County citizens to protect their right to vote. This Petition asserts that the California Legislature has adopted careful and meticulous protections and procedures, common across the states, to ensure accurate election outcomes that the public can and should trust. What is going on in Riverside County is in violation of these laws, and the Petition asks that the California Supreme Court regain control of these election materials.” 

Read the petition here.

Table 1: Comparison of Vote Tally for Riverside County to Secretary of State Certified Results

ABOUT the UCLA Voting Rights Project

The UCLA Voting Rights Project was established to protect equal voting rights for all Americans through strategic litigation, social science research and policy advocacy. The VRP seeks to ensure that all individuals are afforded equal access to the electoral process and representation in governance. For more information about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit vrp.ucla.edu.

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Data Source for Riverside County:

https://voteinfo.net/november-4-2025-statewide-special-election

https://voteinfo.net/november-5-2024-election

https://voteinfo.net/november-8-2022-consolidated-general-election-0

https://voteinfo.net/september-14-2021-california-gubernatorial-recall-election-0

https://voteinfo.net/november-3-2020-consolidated-general-election-0

Data Source for Secretary of State:

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2025-special/sov/03-voter-participation-stats-by-county.pdf

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2024-general/sov/03-voter-participation-stats-by-county.pdf

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2022-general/sov/03-voter-participation-stats-by-county.pdf

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2021-recall/sov/03-voter-participation-stats-by-county.pdf

https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2020-general/sov/03-voter-participation-stats-by-county.pdf

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UCLA Voting Rights Project Applauds California Leaders’ Commitment to Protecting Democracy

LOS ANGELES (March 5, 2026) — Earlier today, Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas announced a joint commitment to protecting California’s elections from potential federal interference. The announcement comes as states across the country face increasing pressure on election administration and new efforts that could undermine voter access. 

Statement from Matt Barreto, faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project, released the following statement:

“The UCLA Voting Rights Project (UCLA VRP) is proud to be an anchor member of the California Democracy Partnership, a group of voting rights legal experts, policy advocates, and community organizers committed to preserving democracy in California. Today, UCLA VRP applauds the commitment made by Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to protect and defend our democracy.

“Just this week, we saw vote suppression on display in Dallas and Williamson County, Texas, where state leaders, employing an obscure state law, forced local election officials to make voting harder for everyone. Chad Dunn, legal director of the UCLA VRP, was part of the team on the ground in Texas working to allow all voters to cast their ballots on Election Day.

“In particular, one of these forced changes by the state of Texas was to assign a specific polling location to each voter and insist that the voter use that location and no other in the county. This represented a last-minute change from the way previous elections had been run for years. What is worse, the voter registration system that the state insisted these counties use was in such disarray that a voter who was trying to find their assigned location was told one location by state officials and a different location by county officials. Predictably, up to half of voters were turned away from the polls on Election Day, some given wrong information about where they should go next. Some voters stood in lines, sometimes twice, for hours.

When Dallas County reasonably sought to extend the voting period by two hours, a local judge agreed. However, within an hour, the Texas attorney general went to the Texas Supreme Court and secured a stay to block the polls from staying open. The Texas Supreme Court left the impression that any votes cast during the extended time would not be counted.

The lessons from Texas in March 2026 should reverberate nationally. Rather than confusing and frustrating voters or erecting new obstacles, there is an opportunity for California to become a national leader in protecting the right to vote for all citizens of all racial groups and all political affiliations.

California has already championed the Voter’s Choice Act and universal vote-by-mail, but the ongoing threat to our democracy continues to loom. California and its leadership are positioned to fight back and fulfill the promise of the fundamental right to vote.

ABOUT the UCLA Voting Rights Project

The UCLA Voting Rights Project was established to protect equal voting rights for all Americans through strategic litigation, social science research and policy advocacy. The VRP seeks to ensure that all individuals are afforded equal access to the electoral process and representation in governance. For more information about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit vrp.ucla.edu.

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UCLA Voting Rights Project Releases Legal Memo Affirming California Legislature’s Authority to Redraw Congressional Districts Mid-Decade

Memo Accompanied by Theoretical Data Map Demonstrating Potential for Implications for Democrats and Republicans

LOS ANGELES (July 31, 2025) — As Texas advances a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan and California Governor Gavin Newsom signals openness to similar action, the UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP) has released a legal and mapping analysis as leaders give thought to any policy action/  The legal memo argues that the text of the California Constitution continues to recognize the power of the Legislature to redistrict at least in some circumstances. 

The VPR analysis provides a textual analysis of the California Constitution and concludes that neither Proposition 11 nor Proposition 20 stripped the Legislature of its power to establish or change congressional districts. While the Citizens Redistricting Commission remains responsible for drawing maps following the decennial census, the constitution text still recognizes that the Legislature can act independently at other times.

On the mapping side, to illustrate what is practically possible based on the state’s geography, population, and voting patterns, VRP mapping experts have released metrics on a theoretical congressional data map showing how new lines could result in additional Democratic-leaning districts across California. The map is not a policy recommendation or endorsement, but rather a data-informed contribution to the public discourse on redistricting.

Matt Barreto, faculty director of the VRP, said, “As an independent and theoretical exercise, we wanted to see if Governor Newsom’s objective was legally and practically possible. This map demonstrates it is possible to legally draw up to 50 congressional districts in California that are Democratic opportunity seats. If the state legislature and Governor decide to move in that direction, there are easily enough Democratic communities in California to achieve his goal.”

“The UCLA VRP is committed to the equal right to vote for all citizens regardless of their race, ethnicity, or preferences for policies or political parties. Our lawyers and experts have advocated to courts (including the U.S Supreme Court) and Congress for measures that would protect voters from state and local governments that dilute their votes based on their race, ethnicity, and/or viewpoints. States are right to enact laws that ensure their legislatures fairly represent the public. The Supreme Court and Congress should police partisan gerrymanders as violative of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.  When it comes to fair representation in Congress, we need a national policy. Without a national policy, it is a worthwhile exercise for state leaders to consider what steps they can take to ensure Congress is at least representative of the Nation as a whole,” said Chad Dunn, legal director of the VPR. 

Read the legal memo and review the map here.

ABOUT THE UCLA VOTING RIGHTS PROJECT

The UCLA Voting Rights Project is the marquee advocacy project of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles and is focused on voting rights litigation, research, policy, and training. The UCLA Voting Rights Project addresses monumental and overlooked gaps in the field of voting rights: how to train young lawyers and researchers, support the development of new legal and methodological theories for voting rights cases, and how to advance policy work to ensure that there is a new generation of leaders who are pursuing efforts to guarantee all citizens have equal and fair access to our democracy. The project was founded by Chad W. Dunn, J.D., and Matt Barreto, Ph.D. The UCLA Voting Rights Project is located within the Luskin School of Public Affairs.
To learn more about the UCLA Voting Rights Project, please visit: vrp.ucla.edu

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