Judge Voids a ‘Staggering’ DOJ Bid for Georgia Election Workers’ Personal Data

U.S. District Judge William Ray, a Trump appointee, said the data in question would not lead to “any viable charge.”

Georgia Election Investigation

Armed FBI agents raided a Fulton County election center in January, seizing over 600 boxes of records — documents the agency was allowed to retain despite flaws in their execution of the search. Mike Stewart/AP

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Justice Department cannot collect personal information about people who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s most populous county — dealing yet another legal blow to the agency’s efforts to investigate baseless claims of voter fraud.

In April, DOJ prosecutors directed a federal grand jury to subpoena Fulton County — a Democratic stronghold and frequent target of President Donald Trump’s ire — in tandem with a wider attempt to force four other states to produce statewide voter registration lists. The agency sought the names, address and telephone numbers for thousands of workers across various functions on Election Day, from poll workers to bus drivers who managed mobile voting sites.

That request was “staggering,” U.S. District Judge William Ray wrote.