NAACP presses judge over FBI’s Georgia voter data use: 'Infringed constitutional protections'

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: The NAACP and several Georgia-based organizations are asking a federal judge to impose limits on how the government can use voter data seized by the FBI from a Fulton County elections warehouse.

The request follows a January 28 search in which agents collected ballots, voter rolls and other election materials related to the 2020 presidential contest.

The groups argues that the seizure raises constitutional concerns and could interfere with voting rights. The Justice Department has not publicly responded to the latest motion.

Civil rights groups seek limits on use of seized election records

In a motion filed late on Sunday, February 15, the NAACP, Georgia and Atlanta NAACP chapters, and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda contended that Georgia residents entrusted the state with their “sensitive personal information” when registering to vote. 

The seizure of ballots and related records from the Fulton County elections hub “breached that guarantee, infringed constitutional protections of privacy, and interfered with the right to vote,” the filing stated.

The organizations asked the court to “order reasonable limits on the government’s use of the seized data” and to bar federal authorities from using the records for purposes unrelated to the criminal investigation cited in the search warrant affidavit.

Specifically, they sought to prohibit any use of the data for voter roll maintenance, election administration or immigration enforcement. 

FBI agents executed the search warrant at the elections hub just south of Atlanta, seeking documents connected to the 2020 election in Fulton County, including ballots, tabulator tapes, electronic ballot images and voter rolls.

Fulton County has separately filed a motion seeking the return of the seized materials.

The motion noted that the seizure came as the Justice Department pursued unredacted state voter registration rolls nationwide.

Federal courts in several states have rejected similar attempts to obtain detailed voter information.

“These repeated efforts to access 2020 election records, including by the entity that now has custody of them, heightened concerns about the privacy and security of sensitive voter data and exacerbates the chill on voting rights,” the motion said.

Lawmakers question intelligence chief’s role in search

The court filing coincided with questions from Democratic lawmakers about the involvement of Tulsi Gabbard in the Fulton County search. 

An affidavit unsealed as part of a court challenge showed that the investigation stemmed from a referral by Kurt Olsen, an attorney who advised Donald Trump during efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and now served as Trump’s “director of election security and integrity.”

Senator Mark Warner questioned why the nation’s top intelligence official was present during the execution of a domestic search warrant. 

“The newly unsealed affidavit shows this search originated from the frivolous claims of Kurt Olsen, an attorney who traffics in debunked falsehoods about the 2020 election. It also makes clear there was no foreign intelligence nexus. So why was the Director of National Intelligence there?” Warner said.

Rep Jim Himes also criticized the search, saying, “I’m really sorry, because I respect the judiciary, but that magistrate judge got hoodwinked.”

The White House defended Olsen’s role and Gabbard’s presence.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “more than appropriate” and that “Tulsi Gabbard’s job was to ensure that our elections are safe and secure.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it would respond to congressional briefing requests through proper channels.