States that voted Blue in 2020 to hand over voter registration data so they can use the voting data to game the coming 2026 mid-term elections.
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The Department of Justice last month sued the clerk of the Fulton County superior and magistrate courts in federal court seeking access to documents from the 2020 election in the county. The lawsuit said the department sent a letter to Che Alexander, clerk of superior and magistrate courts, but that she has failed to produce the requested documents.
Alexander has filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The Justice Department complaint says that the purpose of its request was “ascertaining Georgia’s compliance with various federal election laws.” The attorney general is also trying to help the State Election Board with its “transparency efforts under Georgia law.”
A three-person conservative majority on the State Election Board has repeatedly sought to reopen a case alleging wrongdoing by Fulton County during the 2020 election. It passed a resolution in July seeking assistance from the U.S. attorney general to access voting materials.
The state board sent subpoenas to the county board for various election documents last year and again on Oct. 6. The October subpoena requested “all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County.”
The Justice Department sent a letter to the county election board Oct. 30 citing the federal Civil Rights Act and asking for all records responsive to the October subpoena from the State Election Board. Lawyers for the county election board responded about two weeks later, saying that the records are held by the county court clerk. They also attached a letter the clerk sent to the State Election Board saying that the records are under seal in accordance with state law and can’t be released without a court order.
The Justice Department said it then sent a letter to Alexander, the clerk, on Nov. 21 requesting the documents and that she failed to respond.
The department is asking a judge to declare that the clerk’s “refusal to provide the election records upon a demand by the Attorney General” violates the Civil Rights Act. It is also asking the judge to order Alexander to produce the requested records within five days of a court order.
The State Election Board in May 2024 heard a case that alleged documentation was missing for thousands of votes in the recount of the presidential contest in the 2020 election in 2020. After a presentation by a lawyer and an investigator for the secretary of state’s office, a response from the county and a lengthy discussion among the board members, the board voted to issue a letter of reprimand to the county.
Shortly after that vote, there was a shift in power on the board, and the newly cemented conservative majority sought to reopen the case. The lone Democrat on the board and the chair have repeatedly objected, arguing the case is closed and citing multiple reviews that have found that while the county’s 2020 elections were sloppy and poorly managed there was no evidence of intentional wrongdoing.
The conservative majority voted to subpoena a slew of election records from the county in November 2024. A fight over that subpoena is tied up in court.
https://apnews.com/article/fbi-georgia-elections-office-fulton-county-28e736037521b17197760d2394f0ab43
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.
KATE BRUMBACK
Brumback covers courts, immigration, elections and breaking news. She is based in Atlanta.
Comments from the AP web site:
Comment by Storm.
14 min ago
We need a functioning congress to actually behave as a co-equal branch.
Comment by AngAnd.
17 min ago
Getting in there to rig the midterms, obviously
Comment by ThinkForYourself1.
37 min ago
So, Trump has another hissy fit?
Comment by rdub.
37 min ago
He's just doing what he told everyone he would do. He got reelected because his supporters want him to get revenge on his enemies. And by "enemies," that's anyone who caught him doing anything illegal.
= new reply since forum marked as read
