The state’s election board has dismissed its case against Fulton County after a long-running investigation into alleged malfeasance during the 2020 election at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The investigation began after claims were made by former president Donald Trump and his supporters that voter fraud in Fulton County led to his loss against President Joe Biden. If the state had uncovered fraud, it could have taken over Fulton’s election office.
According to a press release from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office, the investigation found that allegations made against the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections, and specifically, two election workers, were false and unsubstantiated.
“We remain diligent and dedicated to looking into real claims of voter fraud,” Raffensperger said in the press release. “We are glad the State Election Board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines.”
The investigation, which included Secretary of State Investigators, and agents with both the GBI and FBI revealed “there was no evidence of any type of fraud as alleged.”
Through the course of the investigation, “three law enforcement agencies reviewed the entire unedited video footage of the events in question surrounding [the two election workers] at State Farm Arena,” and additionally, reviewed social media posts allegedly made by a Fulton County election worker stating they engaged in election fraud, which was found to created by a third party who “admitted he created a fake account and confirmed the content that was posted on the account was fake.” Ultimately, “all allegations made against [the two election workers] were unsubstantiated and found to have no merit.”
State Election Board Member Ed Lindsey requested a letter be sent to the two election workers, “because of what [these election workers] have gone through, I’d like to ask that [the state election board] writes a letter affirmatively telling them that the matter has been dismissed.”
Last year, One America News Network agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the two workers accused of malfeasance, paying a settlement and issuing an on-air retraction of the false allegations they amplified. A defamation claim against Rudy Giuliani, who initially aired these claims before the Georgia Senate, is still pending in court.
“I’m proud of the work of Fulton County and what we’ve achieved in the last few years and feel fully confident moving into the future that we’ll be setting the standard for how elections need to be run here and across the country,” said Cathy Woolard, the outgoing chair of the Fulton County election board, said in a statement.
The full investigative report can be found here.
