Last Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped a bombshell letter to Fulton County’s Democrat-dominated Board of Elections demanding ballots and other records within 15 days related to what the state election board (SEB) says are “unexplained anomalies in vote tabulation and storage related to the 2020 election” in Georgia’s most populous county.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon wrote on behalf of Attorney General Pam Bondi: “On behalf of the Attorney General of the United States, we request that you present for inspection in its entirety and most original form, all records in your possession responsive to the recent subpoena issued to your office by the State Election Board.”
“The Civil Rights Division sends this request consistent with its ongoing obligations to ensure all citizens’ voting rights have been and are protected in all elections. Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (‘CRA’) empowers the Attorney General to request preserved election records,” the letter says. Also, the letter cites Section 303 of the CRA, which states in part, “any record or paper required by section 20701 of this title to be retained and preserved shall, upon demand in writing by the Attorney General or his representative directed to the person having custody, possession, or control of such record or paper, be made available for inspection, reproduction, and copying at the principal office of such custodian by the Attorney General or his representative.”
Dhillon continued, “The purpose of this request is to ascertain Georgia’s compliance with various provisions of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act including, without limitation, compliance with the provisions relating to election technology and administration standards.” “The State Election Board of your State agreed when, in a July 30, 2025 resolution, it called upon the assistance of the US Department of Justice if necessary for state officials to effect compliance with voting transparency.”
Four months ago, SEB voted 3-2 to pass a resolution seeking assistance from the Department of Justice to reexamine Fulton County election results. SEB member Janice Johnston, who introduced the resolution, noted “this case is not closed.”
The Dhillon letter says, “Transparency appears to have been frustrated at multiple turns in Georgia. The State Election Board has cited ‘unexplained anomalies in vote tabulation and storage related to the 2020 election’ in a letter to you dated November 7, 2024. The Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division has also been made aware, in correspondence to it on August 1, 2025 from voter transparency advocates, of multiple instances of government obstruction of transparency requests, including high-resolution ballot scans, signature verification documentation, and various metadata requests.”
“The Civil Rights Division appreciates your prompt attention to this matter within 15 days of today. Compliance with this request includes notifying all individuals or organizations that have access to these responsive records, even if not directly affiliated with your office.”
Also, a bit of history. The SEB subpoenaed Fulton County on election night a year ago seeking documents related to the 2020 election, including ballot images, chain-of-custody forms, lists of voters, documentation of security seals and ballot scanner paperwork. In fact, the SEB had already reprimanded the county in May of that year for double-scanning at least 3,000 ballots during a recount of the 2020 election.
Since then, Fulton County has refused to honor that SEB subpoena and not a single document has been presented to the SEB. Under Georgia law approximately 400,000 presidential election ballots from 2020 are supposed to still be preserved and stored. Some election integrity activists, though, wonder if they have been destroyed.
Cleta Mitchell, a prominent Trump attorney in 2020, is pleased that Dhillion “is not playing around” in investigating Fulton County regarding examination of those ballots and records. And Mitchell speculates that the U.S. Justice Department would have to serve a warrant on Fulton County if the records aren’t produced by the deadline.
