ATLANTA, GEORGIA — U.S. District Judge Jean-Paul Boulee in May denied Fulton County's motion to compel the return of ballots and other 2020 election materials seized by the FBI from the county's Atlanta elections office. In a 68-page ruling, Boulee wrote that "the seizure in this case was certainly not perfect" and rejected the county's arguments that the search violated its Tenth Amendment rights to administer elections and that the warrant was obtained in bad faith.

FBI agents had executed a search warrant at a Fulton County elections office seeking all physical ballots from 2020, tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images, and voter rolls. More than 630 boxes of election material were taken. Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, was central to Joe Biden's narrow victory in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, results that were counted three times, including one manual recount.

Boulee wrote that the county "ha[d] not shown that their rights were callously disregarded either through supposed defects in the warrant or through the manner in which the warrant was executed." "While the Affidavit was certainly far from perfect, this is not a situation where an officer left out all the facts that might undermine probable cause or where an officer intentionally lied," he wrote. He acknowledged that the affidavit included misleading statements about the final ballot count in 2020 and omitted information about ballot mechanisms. Boulee also wrote that he could not ignore witness testimony in the affidavit alleging that ballot images in the county's possession may have been modified as recently as 2024. He found the county's evidence of irreparable harm "unpersuasive" and rejected an argument that the statute of limitations on the potential violations under investigation had expired.

Fulton County had argued in its lawsuit that the search "callously disregards multiple Fourth Amendment rights" and was a "gross intrusion" into the state's role in administering elections. The county also asked the court to instruct the government to maintain, but not review, any copies of the seized materials until the case was resolved.

According to the affidavit, the FBI is investigating potential violations of federal laws barring election officials from intimidating voters or submitting fraudulent ballots, and requiring retention of federal election records for 22 months. The investigation originated from a referral by Kurt Olsen, described in the affidavit as a "Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity." In 2020, Olsen was an attorney who worked with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the election results. The Justice Department stated in a May 1 court filing that Olsen referred the investigation to the FBI no later than January 5, 2026, and the FBI opened an assessment on January 6, 2026.

At a March hearing, attorney Abbe Lowell, representing the county, warned that the ballots may be used "for some future crime that may not exist" and said that "a number of things were omitted" from the affidavit regarding the election and alleged misconduct by the county. Lowell also argued that about half of the witnesses cited in the affidavit were "election deniers" and that one had a criminal record.

During the same hearing, Boulee said of the Justice Department's defense of the seizure of more than 630 boxes of election material, "that piece bothers me," and asked Justice Department attorney Tysen Duva, "How far does that affidavit have to go?" Duva said, "Are there places in the affidavit where the agent could have done better? Sure," and acknowledged the agent "may have missed a thing or two." Duva also said, "If there is an indictment, that remains to be seen. What may happen later? Maybe nothing."