The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Fulton County, Georgia, accusing county officials of unlawfully refusing to turn over records from the 2020 general election after repeated demands from the Attorney General.
The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, details the department’s attempts in October and November to obtain ballots, ballot stubs, absentee materials, storage documentation, and related digital files that federal law requires election officials to preserve.
According to the filing, Fulton County Clerk of Courts Che Alexander did not produce the requested records despite two written demands issued under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, prompting the Justice Department to seek a court order compelling compliance within five days. The lawsuit argues that the records are necessary for federal inspection and analysis designed to ensure accountability and adherence to federal election-record requirements.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the law clearly requires jurisdictions to preserve and provide access to election records, adding that the department will pursue legal remedies when officials decline to meet those obligations.
The Justice Department also filed separate lawsuits Friday against Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Nevada for failing to provide their statewide voter registration lists after federal requests. Those actions raise the department’s total number of suits seeking voter-list compliance to 18 and rely on statutory authority under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act, which require states to maintain accurate voter rolls and supply the records to the Attorney General when requested.
Read the Court Filing for Fulton County Lawsuit
