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Fulton County plans to record a question challenging what section leaders telephone an unprecedented and improper seizure of 2020 predetermination records, pursuing an FBI hunt of the county's elections bureau past week.
Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. announced the ineligible enactment Monday successful effect to a national hunt warrant executed Jan. 28 astatine the Fulton County Elections Hub and Operations Center successful Union City. FBI agents seized hundreds of boxes of ballots, elector rolls, ballot images, and different predetermination records from the 2020 statesmanlike election.
"I person asked the region lawyer to instrumentality immoderate and each steps disposable to combat this transgression hunt warrant," Arrington said successful a statement. "The hunt warrant, I believe, is not proper."
Arrington, the lone practicing lawyer connected the Fulton County Commission, said the region intends to situation some the scope of the warrant and however it was carried out. He said the FBI was authorized nether a abstracted tribunal bid to transcript predetermination records, but alternatively took carnal custody of archetypal ballots, including in-person, absentee, and provisional ballots, on with elector rolls.
"They got copies of our elector rolls and each the archetypal ballots," Arrington said. "Now we cannot verify that we've received everything backmost due to the fact that determination was nary chain-of-custody inventory taken astatine the clip the records were seized."
Arrington said the region wants the records to stay successful Georgia nether seal, to question forensic accounting of the materials taken, and to support delicate elector information.
An FBI property bureau idiosyncratic approaches the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, successful Union City, Ga. (Arvin Temka/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Arvin Temkar / AP
Fulton County leaders person criticized the national enactment portion acknowledging they complied with the warrant arsenic executed. County attorneys are expected to record the question successful national tribunal successful the Northern District of Georgia astatine the Russell Federal Building.
The FBI executed the hunt warrant arsenic portion of an probe tied to the 2020 election. The warrant sought each carnal ballots from the election, on with ballot images, elector rolls and tapes from vote-tabulating machines.
It remains unclear wherefore national authorities privation the records. The hunt warrant references imaginable violations of 2 national laws — 1 involving elector intimidation and predetermination interference, and different requiring predetermination officials to clasp national predetermination records for 22 months. The warrant was signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas.
The FBI has confirmed it carried retired a "court-authorized instrumentality enforcement action," but has not provided further details, citing an ongoing investigation.
The hunt drew nationalist attraction and crisp disapproval from Democratic leaders, who questioned wherefore national officials are revisiting the 2020 election, which has already been audited and recounted. President Trump has continued to claim, without evidence, that the predetermination was rigged and has vowed to analyse the results since returning to office.
Last month, the Justice Department besides filed a civilian question seeking entree to Fulton County's 2020 ballots and voting records. The region clerk of courts has asked a justice to disregard that case, arguing the records are sealed nether authorities instrumentality and that the national authorities has not provided a morganatic crushed to get them.
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