FBI seizes 2020 ballots in Georgia in apparently unprecedented action, alarming local officials
The president has continued to question the state's 2020 election results.
Fulton County, Georgia, officials said Wednesday that the FBI seized original 2020 voting records while serving a search warrant at the county's Elections Hub and Operations Center.
The FBI earlier Wednesday said they were conducting court-authorized activity at the facility.
The development comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly said there was voter fraud in the 2020 election, specifically in Georgia, that contributed to his election loss. Georgia officials audited and certified the results following the election.
Fulton County officials expressed concern over the seizure of the ballots.
"These are the original voting records, original absentee ballots," Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington, a Democrat, told ABC News regarding the materials seized by the FBI. "Once that stuff leaves our custody, where is the chain of custody? How can we know if we're going to get everything back? How can we know if they might do something mischievous?"
Democratic County Commissioner Mo Ivory said the boxes of ballots, which were previously archived and sealed, are stored on pallets -- and that the FBI was "removing the whole pallets."
"So how can we inventory what they're taking?" Ivory asked.
The search warrant authorized the FBI to search for "All physical ballots from the 2020 General Election," in addition to tabulator tapes from voting machines and 2020 voter rolls, among other documents, according to a copy of the warrant obtained by ABC affiliate WSB.
The warrant says the material "constitutes evidence of the commission of a criminal offense" and had been "used as the means of committing a criminal offense." It was signed by Magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas.
Specifically, the warrant listed possible violations of two statutes -- one which requires election records to be retained for a certain amount of time, and another which outlines criminal penalties for people, including election officials, who intimidate voters or to knowingly procure false votes or false voter registrations.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
Last month, the Justice Department sued Fulton County for access to its 2020 election records, including ballot stubs and signature envelopes.
This past November, a Georgia prosecutor dropped the Fulton County election interference case that was brought in 2023 against Trump and 18 others for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
The charges were brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis following then-President Trump's Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" the votes needed to win the state.
Trump and the other defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges before Willis was disqualified from the case following accusations of impropriety regarding her relationship with a fellow prosecutor.
Trump is now trying to recover $6 million in legal fees from Fulton County following the dropping of the case -- a move made possible by a law that was passed by Georgia Republicans in the wake of the case.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live
