‘When does this end?’ County officials question ruling allowing audit of Fulton ballots

ATLANTA — Another audit is coming of Fulton County absentee ballots.

Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero’s decision to unseal 145,000 Fulton County absentee ballots comes with a major caveat: all the ballots must stay in the custody and control of Fulton County.

The judge is allowing the plaintiffs in a lawsuit questioning the absentee ballots to get high resolution scans, but not the ballots themselves.

Judge Amero plans to meet May 28 at Fulton County’s election warehouse with Fulton County officials and the plaintiffs in the suit to work out logistics.

“I think it helps restore voter confidence. I think at the end of the day that’s a good thing,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray.

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Raffensperger says he has repeatedly told critics of the election to take their case to the courts, and that’s what he says happened here.

“You certified these results, you stood up repeatedly and said you stand behind the results in Georgia. Why should we need this extra audit then?” Gray asked Raffensperger.

“Well this is really looking at these ballots. They’ve made their claims and I think, at the end of the day, they won’t find anything to support their claims,” Raffensperger answered.

The plaintiff attorneys said in court that they want to look for counterfeit ballots. They want the chance to check for things like strange folds, irregular paper or marks that indicate they were not filled out by hand.

Fulton County resident Garland Favorito is one of nine plaintiffs.

“We will know who actually won and we will know what to do in the future to prevent any type of fraud if in fact it did occur,” Favorito said.

But Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts says we already know who won. The election is settled.

“What’s really concerning to me is when does this end,” Pitts said.

Pitts says there has been no evidence whatsoever of any counterfeit ballots.

“We’ve already been through 3 counts, one by hand. It’s outrageous. The big lie just goes on and on,” Pitts said.

This is a civil lawsuit that in no way can change the outcome of the election.

Fulton county election ballots will be looked at for a 4th time after a judges' ruling

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