A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Justice Department from obtaining the names and personal contact information of every election worker who served during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, ruling that the sweeping grand jury subpoena was unreasonable and must be quashed.
U.S. District Judge William Ray found that the DOJ’s request was overbroad and served no legitimate investigative purpose that would justify turning over the personal data of thousands of county employees and volunteer poll workers.
“Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed,” Ray wrote in his ruling.
The Justice Department had obtained the grand jury subpoena in April, seeking names and contact details for Fulton County election workers. The subpoena came after the FBI in January served a search warrant at the county’s election hub and seized hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents tied to the 2020 election.
Fulton County moved to quash the subpoena, arguing it was designed to “target, harass and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” and was “grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need.”
Judge Ray agreed, noting that even if investigators found individuals through the records who supported claims of a stolen election, those findings couldn’t lead to charges.
“That is because the statute of limitations for any possible crime arising from the 2020 Election has long expired,” he wrote.
Justice Department lawyer William McComb pushed back during hearings, arguing the subpoena was simply the “next step in the normal investigative process.” McComb told the court that prosecutors were not yet certain what charges could be brought, framing the request as a preliminary step to identify potential witnesses.
The county’s attorney, Kamal Ghali, countered that handing over election worker contact lists would chill future participation in elections, as workers would fear being targeted for their roles.
A federal judge in May separately denied Fulton County’s request to have the FBI return the seized ballots and documents.
