The State Election Board issued subpoenas in 2024 and 2025 requesting ballot images, signature envelopes, and other records tied to alleged anomalies in vote processing and storage. Fulton County officials have disputed claims that records were missing or mishandled, noting that some documents remained sealed in state court, which delayed portions of the state investigation.
In late October 2025, a second subpoena was issued. By December, state officials acknowledged that over 130 tabulator tapes documenting early in-person votes had not been signed by election workers, as required by state law.
Reports on Absentee Ballot Counts
In January, the Election Oversight Group released a detailed report examining absentee ballot counts in Fulton County during the 2020 election. According to the report, 148,319 absentee ballots were counted, while only 125,784 voters were recorded as having cast absentee ballots. This difference suggested a discrepancy of approximately 22,000 ballots.
The report also noted that on November 3, 2020, around 74,000 absentee ballots had been counted by the close of polls, with an additional 148,000 reported four days later. Of the total absentee ballots, only 16,032 had a corresponding unique “fingerprint” authentication file, while the remaining digital files had been deleted.
Cleta Mitchell, chairwoman of the Election Integrity Network, described the findings as “documenting in one place, in a comprehensive manner, the complexities of the 2020 election in Georgia.” She emphasized that while Fulton County has been a focal point, election challenges are not isolated to a single county.
Legal Steps Leading to the FBI Search
The State Election Board initially issued subpoenas in November 2024, citing “unexplained anomalies in vote tabulation and storage.” A second round of subpoenas in October 2025 requested all used and void ballots, ballot stubs, signature envelopes, and related digital files.
In December 2025, the board confirmed that more than 130 tabulator tapes, documenting roughly 315,000 early in-person votes, were missing required signatures.
Amid ongoing disagreements, the Georgia board sought assistance from the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2025 “to effect compliance with voting transparency.” Federal officials later filed a civil rights complaint, and a judge cleared the way for the board to obtain the records.
On January 28, 2026, the FBI carried out a court-authorized search at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations Center in Union City, removing materials related to the 2020 election. Federal authorities cited the need to secure documents as part of the long-running review.
Moving Forward
Officials have stated that the search was conducted under legal authority and emphasized that the process is part of ensuring transparency and accountability in election procedures. Both state and federal agencies continue to review the materials to resolve outstanding questions about recordkeeping during the 2020 election in Fulton County.