Judge denies Fulton County bid to retrieve 2020 ballots seized by FBI

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to order the Department of Justice to return thousands of 2020 election ballots seized from Fulton County, Georgia, terminating a lawsuit brought by county officials following a January election facility raid.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, an appointee of President Donald Trump, rejected Fulton County’s request to recover ballots and election materials taken earlier this year as part of a federal investigation into alleged 2020 election irregularities. Despite upholding the government’s broad authority to investigate the county’s election materials, he stressed the outcome could have been different had the FBI intervened during an active election.

“Importantly, the seizure at issue in this case did not interfere with the State’s ability to conduct the 2020 election or certify election results, nor have Petitioners shown that it will hinder the State’s ability to conduct future elections,” Boulee wrote.

The FBI seized more than 600 boxes of 2020 election