The FBI Investigates 2020 Election Ballots in Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia – The FBI executed a search warrant to collect hundreds of boxes of ballots from Fulton County, Georgia election offices. This action is part of a criminal inquiry into possible problems with the vote count in the 2020 election, which President Trump lost.
The newly released affidavit explains the reason behind the FBI’s search. Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, has been at the center of claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
The investigation was started after a referral from Kurt Olsen, a lawyer for Trump’s 2020 campaign who now works as an administration official.
Democrats have voiced concerns that the investigation is politically motivated. The affidavit does not mention any evidence of foreign interference in the 2020 election, despite this being a common theory among some Trump supporters.
Joe Biden won Georgia by about 11,800 votes. The election was overseen by a Republican Secretary of State and certified by a Republican governor.
Investigators are looking into Fulton County’s admission that it does not have scanned images of all ballots from the original count or the recount. The affidavit also states that some ballots were scanned more than once during the recount.
The document emphasizes that if these problems were intentional, it would be a violation of federal law. The seizure of election records is needed to determine if records were destroyed or if the vote count included false votes.
The affidavit references a law about preserving election records, a misdemeanor. It also mentions a law that makes it a felony to knowingly deprive residents of a fair election.
However, the document also notes uncertainty about whether these potential issues constitute a crime, as Fulton County elections have been reviewed multiple times.
An independent monitor, hired after a troubled primary election in 2020, found “sloppy processes” but no evidence of fraud during the general election. A performance review in 2021 found “disorganization” but also “marked improvement” in the county’s election practices.
The review board stated, “we do not see any evidence of fraud, intentional misconduct, or large systematic issues that would have affected the result of the November 2020 election.”
After the search, Fulton County officials filed a motion to have the seized materials returned and the affidavit unsealed. The warrant sought all ballots, scanner tapes, electronic ballot images, and voter rolls from the 2020 election.
The county argued that claims of a fraudulent election have been disproven by numerous lawsuits and investigations.
