Judge Rules DOJ Can Keep Fulton County’s 2020 Ballots Despite Flawed FBI Seizure

In a significant legal win for the Justice Department, U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled Wednesday that the federal government does not have to return the 2020 election ballots and related materials seized from Georgia’s Fulton County by the FBI earlier this year. The January 28 raid targeted the elections hub in Georgia’s most populous and heavily Democratic county, long a focal point of former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election.

Fulton County officials had challenged the seizure as improper and unconstitutional, arguing that the FBI’s actions violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. They also demanded the return of any electronic copies made by the Justice Department. But Judge Boulee’s 68-page ruling found that while the affidavit supporting the warrant was “defective in some respects” and contained “troubling” statements, the county failed to prove that its rights were “callously disregarded” or that it would suffer irreparable harm if the documents remained in federal hands.

The Justice Department’s investigation, which cites potential violations of laws governing election record retention and prohibitions on fraudulent ballots, continues despite multiple official recounts and audits affirming Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia. The judge noted that the government’s parallel civil and criminal probes are lawful and that the timeline of events does not support claims that the administration manufactured an ongoing investigation to circumvent civil litigation processes.

This ruling comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to obtain election materials from key swing states, including subpoenas for records in Arizona and Michigan. Election officials and privacy advocates have raised alarms that federal law enforcement is being weaponized to target political opponents and interfere with election integrity.

Fulton County has signaled it may appeal the decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, the Justice Department’s subpoena for personal information of Fulton County election workers has already sparked further legal pushback on grounds of harassment and privacy violations.

The judge’s decision underscores the administration’s aggressive and controversial approach to investigating the 2020 election, despite the absence of credible evidence supporting claims of fraud. It also highlights ongoing tensions between federal authorities and local election officials as the 2024 elections approach. We will continue to track these developments as the fight over election accountability and democratic norms intensifies.