河滨县警长Chad Bianco要求县府承担扣押选票案法律费用：索赔被拒将提告 县府须12月2日前答复
加州河滨县一场围绕选票扣押的法律争议出现新进展：据《新闻企业报》报道，河滨县警长 Chad Bianco 已向县府提出索赔，要求县政府承担他因扣押选票引发的四宗民事诉讼的法律费用；县府10月16日收到该索赔。Bianco 的律师表示，若索赔被拒，Bianco 将提起诉讼。
事件源于今年2月：一个名为 Riverside Election Integrity Team 的团体声称选票数目相差45,896张，Bianco 据此向当地法官取得搜查令，警员随后从县选民登记处取走约65万张特别选举选票进行所谓欺诈审查。加州最高法院上月裁定该扣押行为违法，并认定州总检察长 Rob Bonta 有权下令停止调查、归还选票。
河滨县监事会今年早些时候已投票拒绝为 Bianco 的辩护出资。县府目前正审核这份索赔，按法定时限须在12月2日前答复。报道称，索赔涉及的律师费超过1万美元；若县府拒绝付款、Bianco 提告，法院将须裁定其扣押行为是否属于警长职务范围、纳税人是否应为民选官员的私人法律辩护买单。
Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco Asks County to Pay Legal Bills After Ballot Seizure Ruled Unlawful
A legal fight over a ballot seizure in Riverside County, California, took a new turn: Sheriff Chad Bianco has filed a claim asking Riverside County to cover his legal costs in four civil cases that grew out of the seizure, according to The Press-Enterprise. The county received the claim on October 16, and Bianco's lawyer says he will sue if it is denied.
The dispute began in February, when, after a group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team reported a claimed discrepancy of 45,896 ballots, Bianco obtained search warrants from a local judge and deputies took roughly 650,000 special-election ballots from the county registrar for a fraud review. California's Supreme Court ruled last month that the seizure was unlawful and that Attorney General Rob Bonta had authority to order the probe stopped and the ballots returned.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted earlier this year against funding Bianco's defense. The county is now reviewing the claim, with a statutory response deadline of December 2. The claim seeks more than $10,000 in attorneys' fees, the report said. If the county refuses payment and Bianco sues, a court would have to decide whether his actions were within the scope of his duties as sheriff and whether taxpayers must fund a private legal defense for an elected official.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：从 Mount Rubidoux 远眺 Riverside 市中心（Z3lvs 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons）
