Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has halted a controversial voter fraud investigation amid legal challenges from California officials.

The probe had focused on allegations tied to last year’s Proposition 50 election results, which Bianco and supporters claimed showed discrepancies in vote counts.

State officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, have argued that the investigation lacked legal authority and challenged the seizure of more than 650,000 ballots.

Election officials dismissed the fraud claims, saying the discrepancies were due to misunderstandings of hand-count data, The Guardian has reported.

The pause in the investigation marks a significant reversal as legal disputes continue to unfold.