A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice can retain over 600 boxes of 2020 presidential election ballots and related materials seized by the FBI from Fulton County, Georgia.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee denied Fulton County's motion seeking the return of the records, which were taken on January 28 from a county elections hub warehouse near Atlanta. The seizure targeted ballots and documents amid a federal probe into potential irregularities during the 2020 election in the state's most populous county, including allegations of missing ballot images and duplicate ballots.

The Justice Department is investigating possible violations of federal laws that require election records to be preserved for 22 months after a federal election and prohibit the use or creation of false, fictitious, or fraudulent ballots. The probe stems from earlier civil litigation, as the DOJ sued Fulton County in December 2025 to obtain the records after the county did not comply with a subpoena issued by Georgia's State Election Board.

Fulton County, a heavily Democratic area encompassing most of Atlanta, argued the FBI's search warrant application contained omissions and misleading information. County attorneys claimed the affidavit ignored prior state and local investigations that found no intentional wrongdoing and accused federal agents of showing "callous disregard" for Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

In a 68-page order, Judge Boulee described the affidavit as "defective in some respects," "troubling," "problematic," "misleading," and the seizure as "unprecedented" and "certainly not perfect." However, he found it did not amount to intentional lies or the omission of all facts undermining probable cause. The judge also noted that the county had not demonstrated irreparable harm, as the DOJ provided copies of the documents, and that the seizure did not interfere with past or future elections.

"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," Boulee wrote.

Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts responded that the ruling exposed flaws in the federal process but disagreed with denying the return of the originals. "We will continue, as always, to stand by our election workers and the voters of Fulton County. We intend to vigorously pursue all available legal options," Pitts said. The county could appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case occurs against the backdrop of repeated scrutiny of Fulton County's 2020 election handling, a focal point of former President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated fraud claims despite three recounts, including a hand tally, confirming Joe Biden's victory in Georgia. The Trump administration has pursued similar records requests in other states, including lawsuits against Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Nevada for voter data.

Separately, a federal grand jury subpoena issued in April seeks names and contact information for thousands of 2020 poll workers and volunteers in Fulton County. The county filed a motion Monday to quash it, calling the request overly broad and harassing.