California High Court Orders Sheriff to Return Seized Ballots

California's top court told a county sheriff on Thursday to give back more than 600,000 ballots he grabbed after last year's redistricting vote—and made clear he had no authority to take them. In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to return the ballots to the county's elections chief, the Washington Post reports, rejecting his fraud-based rationale as legally insufficient. The decision used the word "unlawful," NBC News points out.

Bianco had seized the ballots after a local group claimed tens of thousands more votes were counted than received; county officials said the group badly misread the data and found only a tiny, routine discrepancy. The sheriff said he wanted deputies to count the ballots. Bianco's actions helped lead to enactment of a state law that prohibits seizing ballots or voting equipment before results are certified, part of a package state Democrats said is aimed at protecting election results from any interference by President Trump or his allies.