The U.S. Department of Justice accused Fulton County, Georgia, on Friday of failing to produce copies of ballots from the 2020 election in a lawsuit filed in Atlanta federal court.
The complaint also requests absentee ballot signature envelopes and digital files from that election, alleging violations of federal law by Che Alexander, the clerk of Fulton County Superior Court. The documents are currently under seal by court order.
President Donald Trump lost Georgia to Joe Biden by 11,779 votes and has maintained that voter fraud cost him the state’s 16 electoral votes.
The DOJ’s action coincided with its Civil Rights Division filing federal lawsuits against Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Nevada for similar failures to produce statewide voter registration lists upon request. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, stated in a statement: “States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution. At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will.”
The Fulton County lawsuit argues that the DOJ needs the ballots and other records to determine whether the county complied with federal election laws. It seeks a court order declaring Fulton County violated federal law by withholding the documents and requiring them to be turned over.
Alexander declined to comment on Friday.
Last year, the State Election Board subpoenaed the ballots but the dispute remained in court. The board later sought DOJ assistance and requested materials from the county in October 2024. Fulton County responded that the ballots are under seal and a court order is required to unseal them.
The board reprimanded Fulton County in May 2024 for double-scanning at least 3,000 ballots during a 2020 election recount. Critics have sought answers on how this error occurred, and the inquiry was revived after a conservative majority took control of the board.
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts criticized the continued focus on the 2020 elections: “I don’t know how loudly I can say it. The 2020 elections are over,” he said. “Why does this crowd continue to focus on this? I’ll never understand.”
