In late January, Donald Trump and his team deployed FBI agents to raid an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia, walking away with what local sources called “pallets of ballots.” There was no credible reason to execute such a raid, which was driven by the president’s absurd election conspiracy theories, and it led to speculation about whether, when and where more ballots might be seized.

Roughly seven weeks later, The New York Times reported:

A Republican sheriff who is running for governor of California recently seized more than 650,000 ballots cast in a 2025 statewide election, prompting criticism from the state’s top election official, who said the sheriff’s concerns about fraud ‘lack credible evidence.’

The sheriff, Chad Bianco, on Friday said he was investigating allegations by an election activist group that vote tallies did not match the number of ballots received. … His office confirmed the ballot seizure and investigation on Sunday.

At issue is last year’s Proposition 50 election in the Golden State, which cleared the way for a redistricting plan that will benefit Democratic candidates, as a counter to a comparable plan in Texas that will benefit GOP candidates. Voters in California overwhelmingly supported the effort, approving the ballot measure by nearly 30 points.

A Republican sheriff in Riverside County, just east of the Los Angeles area, nevertheless seized more than 650,000 ballots as part of an investigation that appears entirely baseless.

For those inclined to be charitable, there is a relatively benign interpretation of these developments. It’s possible, for example, that Bianco is simply trying to generate attention for his long-shot gubernatorial candidacy. Relatedly, the sheriff likely realizes that ballot seizures will please the White House, which in turn may lead to greater institutional support from his party in the coming months.

The move, in other words, may very well be little more than an elaborate campaign stunt that will have little practical impact and will be largely forgotten after Bianco loses.

But then there are the less benign interpretations of what transpired.

At its root, this is a story about a Republican official whose office has literally nothing to do with election administration, in his county or anywhere else, who decided to seize election materials in response to assorted conspiratorial complaints. This comes on the heels of Trump sending the FBI to seize election materials in Georgia in response to other assorted conspiratorial complaints.

The broader concern is that a template is taking shape, offering precedents for law enforcement to start making plans to seize ballots in areas nationwide — after or even during official counts.

What’s more, the more frequently this happens, the more Americans may be led to believe it’s normal and routine for law enforcement officials to seize and impound ballots — despite the fact that this is neither normal nor routine. Watch this space.

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