Officials in Fulton County, Georgia, are preparing a new legal challenge aimed at contesting the FBI’s recent seizure of election records tied to the 2020 presidential contest, according to county leadership.
Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. said the county intends to file a motion in federal court questioning the legality of the search and seeking the return of ballots and related materials removed from the county’s election office. The filing is expected to be submitted in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The move follows an FBI operation conducted last Wednesday at the Fulton County elections facility near Atlanta, during which agents removed approximately 700 boxes of election-related documents and materials. The seizure is part of a federal investigation into allegations of voter fraud connected to the 2020 election.
Arrington said he has directed county attorneys to pursue all available legal options to challenge the warrant used in the search. In a statement released Monday, he described the action as improper and said the county is seeking judicial limits on the scope and handling of the seized records.
According to Arrington, the county plans to request that the materials be returned under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g), a provision that allows parties affected by an allegedly unlawful search or seizure to petition for the recovery of their property. The filing will argue that while federal authorities may have been authorized to examine or copy certain records, they lacked proper authority to take physical possession of original ballots and voter rolls.
Arrington said the county’s concerns extend beyond the seizure itself to how the records were handled. He stated that no detailed chain-of-custody inventory was provided at the time the materials were removed, making it difficult for county officials to confirm whether all items will be returned intact.
“They obtained copies of voter rolls and took original ballots,” Arrington said, adding that the absence of a documented inventory complicates verification efforts.
The county also plans to ask the court to impose safeguards on any materials that remain under federal control. These include requests for forensic accounting, restrictions to keep the documents sealed within the state of Georgia, and additional measures intended to protect sensitive voter information.
An FBI spokesperson present at the elections office during the operation told reporters that the seized materials would be transported to the FBI’s Central Records Complex in Virginia. The bureau has not issued a public response to Fulton County’s planned court challenge and did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The upcoming filing represents a significant escalation in the dispute between local election officials and federal authorities, as Fulton County seeks judicial review of the search warrant and the broader handling of election records tied to one of the most contested elections in modern US history.
This report reflects the latest information provided by county officials regarding their planned legal strategy.