In 2026 the main active or recently resolved disputes over 2020 election evidence have centered on federal efforts to obtain ballots and voter records that states and counties have resisted.
In Fulton County, Georgia, the FBI seized more than 600 boxes of original 2020 ballots, tabulator tapes, images, and related records in January; U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee denied the county’s Rule 41(g) motion for their return in May after finding the warrant affidavit imperfect but not so deficient as to require giving the originals back, while a later July order by Judge William M. Ray II quashed a follow-on grand-jury subpoena for personal data on thousands of election workers because the five-year statute of limitations had expired.
Parallel DOJ civil suits seeking complete unredacted statewide voter rolls (including dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers, and driver’s-license numbers) from roughly 30 states plus D.C. have produced no victories for the government: more than 20 district courts have dismissed the cases on the merits, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the Michigan dismissal and denied rehearing, Oklahoma settled by producing data, and Georgia’s suit was refiled after a venue dismissal, with the remaining appeals still pending in multiple circuits.
Arizona officials separately produced digital records from the 2021 Senate/Cyber Ninjas Maricopa audit in response to an FBI subpoena, though the original paper ballots had already been destroyed under state retention rules.
