Fulton County Fights FBI to Get Back 2020 Election Ballots

Georgia's Fulton County will ask a federal judge Friday to return over 600 boxes of 2020 election ballots seized by the FBI in January. The seizure is part of the Trump administration's renewed investigation into unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud from the 2020 election.

Officials in Georgia’s Fulton County are heading to federal court Friday to demand the return of hundreds of boxes containing 2020 election ballots that FBI agents confiscated during a raid last month.

The court hearing in Atlanta will examine the justification behind the FBI’s January 28 seizure of more than 600 boxes of election materials from Fulton County’s election facility. The search operation included participation from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, demonstrating how the current Trump administration is using federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to re-examine his previous loss to Joe Biden.

Former President Trump continues to make unsubstantiated assertions that his 2020 defeat resulted from massive voter fraud, raising questions about election security as November’s midterm elections approach.

County attorneys representing Fulton County, which encompasses most of Atlanta, have contested the search through legal channels, claiming it demonstrated “callous disregard” for the county’s constitutional protections and was based on previously disproven accusations.

In court documents, Fulton County’s legal team stated: “Despite years of investigations of the 2020 election,” federal agents had failed to “identified facts that establish probable cause that anyone committed a crime.”

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, based in Atlanta, has agreed to review evidence during Friday’s proceedings regarding the search operation, though he rejected Fulton County’s request to have the FBI agent who prepared the search warrant affidavit testify in person.

The Justice Department has countered that Fulton County officials are attempting to interfere with an ongoing investigation and contends the county cannot challenge a magistrate judge’s ruling that the search met legal standards.

During the raid at the election facility in Union City, Georgia, federal agents confiscated extensive materials from the 2020 election, including original ballots. Officials pointed to supposed “deficiencies or defects” in the 2020 voting process, such as allegations that certain digital ballot images were absent and some mail-in ballots appeared not to have been properly folded as mandated.

The probe originated from a complaint filed by Kurt Olsen, an attorney who previously assisted Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and has now been assigned by the White House to reexamine the vote.

Federal prosecutors have referenced possible violations of records preservation statutes and laws that make it illegal to attempt to deny citizens a fair election.

Fulton County’s attorneys have maintained in legal filings that individuals questioned by the FBI, including Republican Georgia State Election Board members, are not reliable witnesses. They argue some allegations stem from simple errors, while others reflect confusion about election procedures.

Fulton County, a traditionally Democratic area in what has become a competitive presidential battleground state, became a focal point for conspiracy theories and fraud allegations promoted by Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election.

Biden’s substantial victory margin in Fulton County was crucial in turning Georgia blue for Democrats. However, the state returned to Trump’s column in 2024.