Ballots Returned to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters

After the California Supreme Court's recent ruling in favor of VRP's challenge to Sheriff Chad Bianco's unlawful ballot seizure in Riverside County, the 650,000 seized ballots have been fully returned to the custody of the Riverside County registrar of voters. This return took place under the supervision of the Registrar of Voters. Although the ballots should never have been removed from the proper election officials, VRP is proud that they have been returned to the custody of the Riverside County Registrar of Voters under the Registrar's supervision. On September 29, 2026, VRP sent a letter to the Riverside County Counsel demanding oversight on the Bianco ballot return.

Read more here.

Did you know?💡

VRP's Senior Data Scientist Michael Rios tells The Press Democrat there has been a shift in Black and Latino voter turnout in VCA counties

From Sonni Waknin, Senior Staff Attorney, "The court concluded that because the law is extraordinarily clear in California that in no event shall ballots be taken out of the custody of election officials and no doesn't mean yes sometimes."

VRP's Matt Barreto clarifies that the DHS database cannot be used in the upcoming midterms due to the National Voter Registration Act

💼Employment Opportunities - Come work with the VRP!🚨

Staff Attorney

The UCLA Voting Rights Project (VRP) seeks an experienced litigation, trial, and appellate attorney to work on a new project focused on California county, city, school, and state redistricting plans and election policies. Reporting to the Legal Director, the staff attorney/California Voting Rights Counsel will play a critical role in the VRP, developing a new program along with data scientists, to track and analyze redistricting plans and proposed changes within local jurisdictions throughout the state of California. See the full job description here. 

How else can I support the VRP?

We will be sure to update you on community events, opportunities, or individual actions you can take that support our mission. If you are interested in collaborating or sponsoring our work on a larger scale, please reach out to us at info@uclavrp.org. 

If you would like to support research, policy advocacy, and impact litigation to promote equal access to voting for all Americans, please donate here. We appreciate your support!