The federal government can retain the 2020 election ballots from Georgia's Fulton County that were seized by the FBI from a warehouse near Atlanta, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Court Decision on Seized Ballots
US District Judge JP Boulee's ruling came after lawyers for the county argued that the ballots and other election materials, along with any electronic copies made by the Justice Department, should be returned because the seizure was improper and unconstitutional.
The January 28 seizure by the FBI targeted the elections hub in Georgia's most populous county, which is heavily Democratic and includes most of the city of Atlanta. Fulton County has been at the center of unfounded claims by Donald Trump and his allies that widespread election fraud cost him the 2020 election.
Justice Department Investigation
The Justice Department has stated it is investigating "irregularities that occurred during the 2020 presidential election in the county" and identified two laws that might have been violated. One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting, or tabulating false, fictitious, or fraudulent ballots.
Georgia's votes in the 2020 presidential race were counted three times, including once by hand, and each count affirmed Democrat Joe Biden's win.
Judge's Reasoning
"The seizure in this case was certainly not perfect," Boulee wrote in his 68-page ruling. However, he went on to say that Fulton County did not establish that its rights were callously disregarded "either through the lack of probable cause, omissions in the Affidavit or by the manner of the execution of the seizure."
The county also failed to show that it needs the documents or will be irreparably harmed if they are not returned, he wrote, noting this is particularly true because the Justice Department has provided the county with copies of the documents.
