The FBI’s seizure of ballots in Fulton County has reignited questions about the 2020 election, even after multiple audits found no evidence of fraud. So what does a move like this mean for election security and public trust? GPB’s Peter Biello speaks to David Becker from the nonpartisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Here’s a short explainer.
Peter Biello: The FBI searched a Fulton County election hub yesterday in connection with the 2020 election. Agents took 700 boxes of ballots. President Trump has been fixated on Georgia’s election results since he lost that election, but after multiple audits, state and local election officials found no evidence of fraud as Trump and some of his supporters have claimed. For more on this, we turn to David Becker. He’s the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. David, thank you very much for speaking with me.
David Becker: Thanks for having me on, Peter.
Peter Biello: So why now, a year after Trump’s second inauguration, is this happening?
David Becker: That’s a great question that probably should be posed to the Department of Justice and the Trump administration. As you noted, the 2020 election in Georgia was not only verified and confirmed through multiple means, it was one of the great achievements of American history, not just in Georgia, but nationwide.
Somehow, election workers, Republicans and Democrats, worked together in the middle of a global pandemic to manage the highest turnout we’ve ever seen in American history. And that election has withstood scrutiny, unlike any election in world history has seen. In Georgia specifically, those paper ballots — and every ballot was cast on paper in Georgia in 2020, unlike 2016 — those new paper ballots that were used in 2020 were counted three times, three different ways, once entirely by hand with observation from both candidates and the parties.
So now over five years later, we see the Department of Justice come in, requesting evidence, and it — it’s very clear there’s no crime that was committed. If anything, there was a great achievement that — that’s been done. But unfortunately, this is going to fuel further disinformation and, unfortunately, distrust of our election system.
Peter Biello: If the statute of limitations has run out — and there’s some legal debate on whether or not it has — then what do you think the ultimate end goal of this raid is?
David Becker: Yeah, I think the end goal is not to use this evidence in any kind of proceeding. In fact, there’s a real question as to whether or not the DOJ has retained chain of custody on these boxes of ballots that they’ve seized in such a way that they could introduce them into evidence in court. Unlike what had happened up until yesterday, those ballots were maintained under a strict chain of custody, meaning the election officials and others knew where they were and who had access to them at every moment of time. There were strict log books, strict security.
Now we don’t know that, and there’s going to be a gap, and if they ever try to introduce them, I suspect that they’ll be inadmissible. Which tells you that this is probably not about introducing evidence in court. Every time anyone has gone into court trying to prove fraud in 2020, they’ve failed. Oftentimes they’ve conceded that they lied. And here we’re likely seeing that I think the DOJ doesn’t want to go to court, doesn’t want to present evidence, doesn’t want to have it cross-examined and scrutinized, which means they want to do something that’s outside the courts.
And what we might see —and listen for this: We might see in the next few days or weeks, claims that they found something, but they’ll be put out just on social media and press conference and on friendly media. And ask yourself, “If they found something, why haven’t they brought it to court? Why haven’t they subjected it to scrutiny, just like the election officials’ work was put to scrutiny over these last five years?”
Peter Biello: So what implications could there be for the general election later this year? After all, Fulton County is the state’s most populous county, leans heavily Democrat.
David Becker: You know, it’s wait and see what this means for 2026. I think we can expect given some of the rhetoric coming out of the White House over the last year that we’re going to see further disinformation. We’re going see efforts to inspire distrust in our elections. And the more we hear them, what we should be thinking is, “What does this mean about what the president thinks is going to happen in the election?”
If you think you’re going win an election, you don’t devalue or delegitimize that election in advance. You — that election is going to validate you and your party. But if you think you’re going to lose an election, that’s when you start seeing disinformation being spread. And now, of course, the president has the full arm, every — every lever of the federal government to assist him. And unfortunately, that could amplify a lot of this disinformation.
There is good news in Georgia, though. And the good news is Georgia runs exceptionally good elections. And their voter lists are exceptionally clean, really state-of-the-art. The gold standard of voter lists and elections, thanks to the professionals. And Georgia also makes it extremely easy to vote. Voters can choose to vote early in person, they can chose to vote by mail without an excuse, or they can vote on Election Day. And so, Georgia voters, as much as voters all across the nation, are gonna find a really convenient, safe, secure process to vote. And I expect we’re gonna see very high turnout in a secure election with high integrity.
Peter Biello: Do you foresee a possible effort by state or federal government to take over Fulton County elections?
David Becker: I mean, I think there might be some rhetoric along those lines, but the Constitution is very clear. The founders wrote Article 1, Section 4, the elections clause, into the Constitution, which says that the state legislatures regulate elections.
Congress can also regulate elections, but the executive branch, the president, has no authority over elections whatsoever, and I have a great deal of confidence in the American people, in the America — in the election officials, in the courts, that despite any rhetoric, it will be Georgia election officials elected by Georgians who run elections.
Peter Biello: David Becker is the executive director and founder of the nonpartisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. David, thank you so much for speaking with me.
David Becker: Thanks, thanks for having me on, Peter.
This story comes to The Current GA through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.