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Like American voters Look at the November midterm elections Trump administration Obsessed with looking back at the past electionsIt confiscated ballots cast years ago in several states in search, it claims, of fraud or other irregularities. But experts believe the target may be more diverse.
The seizures began in January when FBI agents armed with a search warrant raided an election facility in Fulton County, Georgia, and seized 600 boxes of 2020 ballots. This was followed in March by the Department of Justice obtaining 2020 ballot images in Maricopa County, Arizona, and — citing allegations of supposed fraud in 2020 — demanding ballots for the 2024 election in Wayne County, Michigan.
These federal seizures have moved to the local level. In March, a Republican mayor in California obtained an order to confiscate about 650,000 ballots in November’s statewide redistricting election. He announced, without clear authority to do so, that his representatives would conduct a recount.
Election experts fear this trend will grow, creating widespread chaos after the midterms, if courts fail to scrutinize what appear to be politically motivated requests from groups intent on undermining election results they don’t like.
“It’s really important for the public, grand juries, and judges not to allow these actions… to become some sort of precedent,” says Gauri Ramachandran, director of elections and security at the Brennan Center for Justice. “This is not, and should not be, a rubber stamp issue.”
It is difficult to know for sure what parties seizing ballots are aiming to achieve. The Justice Department may be looking for evidence of fraud to lend legitimacy to President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Or it may be sending a message to voters and election officials that the federal government controls elections, even though the Constitution says otherwise. The seizures may also serve as trial balloons to see how courts, election officials and the public react. If the response is weak, it may encourage the administration to confiscate ballots after the midterm elections.
“There is understandable concern that this is a trial run for going after ballot confiscation in the ongoing election,” says Anna Baldwin, director of voting rights litigation at the Campaign Legal Center. “Obviously the concern is that you now have high-profile election deniers within the federal government who have the ability to use and abuse the enormous power that the federal government has.”
A Justice Department spokesperson said the department is “committed to preserving the integrity of our electoral system and will continue to prioritize efforts to ensure all elections remain free, fair, and transparent.”
The White House provided only a lengthy statement about the federal government’s right to voter registration data, which included pushing Congress to pass the Save America Act.
Not surprisingly, the seizures focused on three crucial battleground states that have been in the sights of Trump and election deniers since 2020. The midterm results in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan aren’t just important because they could affect which party controls Congress, though: These three states are among more than three dozen vying for state offices responsible for overseeing elections or interpreting election laws. He pointed out that “election deniers” are running in the elections In some races.
Fulton County, Georgia
Of all the seizures, the Fulton County case received the most attention. In 2020, Joe Biden won Georgia by a narrow margin of 0.23 percent, after which Trump phoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — a Trump supporter at the time — to say: Click on it to “find” more votes across the state to overturn Biden’s win. Raffensperger refused, and he and other Georgia officials have since been in the crosshairs of Trump and the no-election movement. Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold and the state’s most populous county, was a particular focus.
On January 28, FBI agents, armed with a warrant, raided a Fulton County election office and seized paper ballots for the 2020 election, as well as digital scans of ballots, tabulation machine receipts, and voter lists. The government claims the substance exists Part of the criminal investigation On how county officials and workers handled the 2020 election, and since Request names, home addresses, and other personal information For election officials, poll workers and volunteers.
