Fulton County Files to Block DOJ Subpoena for 2020 Workers Data

Fulton County, Georgia, election officials filed a motion Monday in federal court to block a Justice Department subpoena seeking the personal information of thousands of workers from the 2020 presidential election.

The grand jury subpoena, dated April 17 and served on April 20 to the county's director of elections, requests names, positions, residential and email addresses, and personal phone numbers of county employees, volunteer poll workers, and others who assisted, including bus drivers for mobile voting sites. Lawyers for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections argued the request is overly broad, lacks any legitimate investigative need, and violates privacy laws, state sovereignty, and First Amendment rights by chilling election participation.

The move follows an FBI search in January of a county elections warehouse, where agents seized 2020 ballots and other records. The county has sued to recover those materials. The subpoena directs the information to an out-of-district U.S. attorney in North Carolina or an FBI agent involved in the January action, rather than directly to the grand jury, according to the filing. County lawyers contended the statute of...