California Court Orders Sheriff to Return Seized Ballots
A sheriff in California took many voting ballots. He said he was looking for fraud. Fraud means cheating to win.
The sheriff's name is Chad Bianco. He works in Riverside County, California. He took about 650,000 ballots.
The California Supreme Court looked at this case. A court is a place where judges decide what is legal. The judges said Bianco's action was unlawful. Unlawful means against the law.
The court gave an order. An order is a strong instruction from a court. The order says Bianco must give the ballots back.
Bianco is a member of the GOP. GOP means the Republican political party. He said he wanted to check for problems with voting.
Many people are watching this story. Voting is very important in elections. An election is when people choose their leaders.
Vocabulary15 words
- ballot
- a paper used to vote
- fraud
- cheating to get something unfairly
- unlawful
- against the law
- order
- a strong instruction that must be followed
- GOP
- the name for the Republican political party in the US
- election
- when people vote to choose leaders
- sheriff
- a top police officer in a county
- court
- a place where judges decide about the law
- seize
- to take something by force or authority
- inquiry
- an official check into something
- county
- a part of a US state
- judge
- a person who decides cases in court
- confiscate
- to take something away officially
- legal
- allowed by law
- return
- to give something back
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Quiz
Answer key
1. Ballots 2. The sheriff's action was unlawful 3. True
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
A sheriff in California took many voting _____. He said he was looking for _____.
The sheriff's name is Chad Bianco. He works in Riverside _____. He took about 650,000 ballots.
The California Supreme _____ looked at this case. The judges said Bianco's action was _____.
The court gave an _____. The order says Bianco must give the ballots back.
Bianco is a member of the _____. He said he wanted to check for problems with voting.
Voting is very important in _____.
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