FBI agents load roughly 700 boxes of 2020 election ballots and records into trucks during a criminal investigation into alleged voting irregularities at the Fulton County Elections Hub in Union City, Georgia, on January 28, 2026. (FOX 5)
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The NAACP and other groups are asking a judge to protect personal voter information seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from an election warehouse just outside Atlanta, according to The Associated Press.
What we know:
FBI agents executed a search warrant Jan. 28 at the Fulton County elections hub, seeking records related to the 2020 election. According to court filings, the warrant covered all ballots, tabulator tapes from voting machines, electronic ballot images created during counts and recounts, and voter rolls.
The criminal investigation began with a referral from Kurt Olsen, who advised President Donald Trump during efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and now serves as Trump’s "director of election security and integrity."
Fulton County, the state’s most populous county and a Democratic stronghold, has also filed a motion seeking the return of the seized materials.
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What they're saying:
In a motion filed late Sunday, the NAACP and allied organizations argue that Georgia voters entrusted the state with "sensitive personal information" when registering and that the seizure "breached that guarantee, infringed constitutional protections of privacy, and interfered with the right to vote."
The motion asks the judge to impose "reasonable limits" on how the government can use the data and to prohibit its use for purposes beyond the criminal investigation cited in the warrant affidavit. That would include barring its use for voter roll maintenance, election administration or immigration enforcement.
The groups also want the court to require the government to provide a full inventory of what was taken, disclose who has accessed the records, detail any copies made and outline what steps have been taken to secure the information.
The other side:
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the motion.
The Justice Department has sued at least 23 states and the District of Columbia seeking detailed voter information, saying it is part of an effort to ensure election security. Democratic officials and other critics have expressed concern that federal officials could use sensitive voter data for other purposes. Federal courts in several states have rejected the department’s attempts to obtain such records.
What's next:
The motion is now before a judge, who will decide whether to restrict how the seized voter data can be used and whether additional disclosures are required.
Court proceedings in the case are expected to continue as both the civil rights groups and Fulton County seek relief over the seized election materials.