Xavier Becerra
Role at the time: Democratic candidate for governor of California and an attorney of record for the petitioning voters in Cervantes v. Bianco
Response to this claim
Elections Code section 15551(d) requires that voted ballots never be taken from the elections official's custody, so Sheriff Bianco violated it when he removed the Riverside County ballots from the Registrar of Voters, even under a search warrant.
“The sheriff is supposed to enforce the law. In this case, Sheriff Bianco violated the law. There are ways that you treat ballots. You have to maintain the integrity of every ballot so you know, I know, we all know, that no one will tamper with your ballot. There is a chain of custody requirement that the law says you have to follow in order to let that ballot move anywhere. … He cannot claim under cover of an investigation that he has the right to take these ballots and break that chain of custody. That's against the law. That's why we're suing, and that's why he's going to lose in the Supreme Court.”
CNN's transcript of the televised Democratic and Republican gubernatorial debate. Moderator Kaitlan Collins asked Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton about Sheriff Chad Bianco's seizure of the Riverside County ballots, and Bianco replied.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The reference point is the sheriff's seizure and handling of the ballots. Becerra says the seizure broke the chain of custody the law requires and was against the law, which expressly rejects the conduct.