Fulton County, Georgia, has admitted to violating vote certification rules, indicating that over 300,000 ballots may not have been counted correctly
Election officials in Georgia have acknowledged significant breaches of vote certification procedures during the 2020 presidential election. Former President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Joe Biden, has consistently asserted that the election was “stolen” and tainted by widespread fraud and irregularities.
This admission, made earlier this month, came to light following a complaint filed by election integrity advocate David Cross. Cross accused Fulton County, Georgia’s most populous county, of unlawfully certifying at least 315,000 ballots in 2020.
Biden narrowly won Georgia, which holds 16 electoral votes, by fewer than 12,000 votes, ultimately securing the Electoral College victory with a 306–232 count.
The core of the dispute involves tabulator tapes generated by voting machines during early voting. According to state regulations, each tabulator is required to produce closing tapes signed by poll workers to validate the recorded vote totals.
Upon submitting an open records request to Fulton County, Cross discovered at least 134 tabulator tapes lacking signatures, which implies that the corresponding ballots could not have been legally certified.
Cross also raised concerns about missing “zero tapes,” which are intended to verify that machines started counting from zero at the commencement of polling. Additionally, he pointed to discrepancies involving scanner serial numbers and unusually late poll closing times.
During a recent hearing before the State Election Board, Ann Brumbaugh, an attorney representing the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, stated that the county “does not dispute the allegations,” acknowledging the oversight as a violation of election board rules.
Members of the state board characterized the findings as “very troubling” and forwarded the case to the Georgia Attorney General, seeking potential civil penalties of $5,000 for each unsigned tape and other enforcement measures.
The outcome in Georgia has remained a central theme of Trump’s broader criticisms of the 2020 election, which have been dismissed by Democrats and have formed the basis of numerous legal challenges against him.
Since returning to office, Trump has pledged to reform the U.S. voting system, advocating for more stringent voter identification requirements, restrictions on mail-in voting, and a transition to paper ballots, arguing that these changes are essential to restoring faith in elections.