The absentee ballots cast during the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, can be unsealed and examined for fraud, a judge ruled Friday.
Superior Court Judge Brian Amero ruled in favor of Garland Favorito, among other plaintiffs, who filed a lawsuit following the November election. The ballots must remain in the custody of local election officials, the judge said.
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The ruling cannot change the outcome of the 2020 election, which was certified and confirmed by multiple recounts, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who drew criticism from his party for not going along with former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud, welcomed the news of another tally check.
“From day one I have encouraged Georgians with concerns about the election in their counties to pursue those claims through legal avenues,” he said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Fulton County has a long-standing history of election mismanagement that has understandably weakened voters’ faith in its system. Allowing this audit provides another layer of transparency and citizen engagement.”
One of his biggest critics, former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, also praised the judge’s ruling. She has called for an investigation into Raffensperger.
“Voter confidence in our election system is the bedrock of our republic. Unfortunately, inconsistencies in Fulton County’s November 2020 absentee ballots cast serious doubt on voters’ faith in our elections. An independent investigation even characterized Fulton County’s absentee ballot handling as ‘generally bad management,’” Loeffler said.
She added, “While there is a dire need to investigate a number of other well-documented issues, we must also inspect Fulton County’s absentee ballots to reassure Georgians that their voices are heard and their votes are counted.”
“The biggest example of an inconsistency is the issue with State Farm Arena in Fulton County, where poll watchers were told by election officials that counting had stopped for the night, only for surveillance video to reveal it resumed in the overnight hours,” a spokesperson from Loeffler’s group, Greater Georgia, told the Washington Examiner.
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Following the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump and many of his allies sought to overturn the results of the election, claiming there was fraud that influenced the results. However, those claims were rejected in various courts of law.
