California sheriff used ‘non-existent’ quotes in legal defense of ballot seizures
Democracy Docket • • nation
Key Points:
- Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who seized 650,000 ballots to challenge last year’s redistricting referendum, is accused of using fabricated quotations in a legal brief opposing a lawsuit demanding the return of those ballots.
- The lawsuit, filed by four Riverside County voters through the UCLA Voting Rights Project, alleges Bianco violated state election laws by removing ballots from local election officials' custody.
- The plaintiffs’ attorneys highlighted that Bianco’s brief cited a non-existent quotation from a key case to argue the voters lacked standing, pointing to a pattern of misleading legal citations.
- Bianco’s attorney acknowledged errors in the brief, attributing them to rushed filings amid ongoing legal battles, but did not confirm whether artificial intelligence was used in drafting the document.
- This incident follows similar controversies involving fabricated legal quotes in voting rights cases, raising concerns about the accuracy and integrity of legal arguments in election-related litigation.
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