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Fulton County’s claim that federal agents relied on “gross mischaracterizations” came from election technology expert Ryan Macias, who made the allegation in a sworn declaration supporting the county’s challenge to an FBI search. It was his testimony—not a court finding that the affidavit was false. In May 2026, a federal judge denied the county’s request to get the seized records back, while criticizing aspects of the affidavit.
What did the FBI seize in Fulton County?
On January 28, 2026, the FBI searched Fulton County’s election facility in Union City, Georgia, and seized records related to the 2020 presidential election. The warrant covered physical ballots and other election materials. The dispute that followed concerned the seizure of those records and the affidavit used to support the warrant.
Fulton County challenged the government’s retention of the materials. On February 17, election technology expert Ryan Macias submitted a sworn declaration in support of the county. CyberScoop reported the next day on his criticism of the affidavit, including his description of its claims as “gross mischaracterizations.”
Why did Macias say the affidavit was misleading?
Macias argued that the affidavit presented election-administration issues as evidence of possible wrongdoing while omitting relevant findings from Georgia investigations and context about how election procedures worked. His declaration discussed five areas the affidavit characterized as potential election “deficiencies or defects,” including ballot images, duplicate scans, risk-limiting audit tallies, and other reporting or recordkeeping issues.
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His overall conclusion was: “Once the statements and omissions in the Affidavit are corrected and based on my experience administering elections, the Affidavit does not have a substantial basis in reality.” That is Macias’s sworn opinion, offered on the county’s behalf. It should not be confused with a judicial determination that the affidavit lacked a factual basis.
Ballot images and repeat scans
Macias said Georgia law in 2020 did not require election officials to preserve ballot images, and that a ballot could be scanned and tabulated without an image being captured. He distinguished cast-vote records, which he said were used for official tabulation, from ballot images and audit logs.
He also cited Georgia investigative findings concerning duplicate ballot images, arguing that duplication did not show that votes had been counted twice or that the election result had changed. These are claims and context presented in his declaration, which is a party submission—not a neutral ruling on the technical issues.
The declaration reports that the FBI affidavit cited 528,777 ballots in the original count and 527,925 in the recount. Those are figures attributed to the affidavit as described by Macias, not independent statistical findings. Separately, the Associated Press reported that Georgia’s presidential vote was counted three times, including a hand count.
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What “the paper is the record of the vote” means here
Macias’s declaration reproduces testimony from a 2024 State Election Board hearing by Georgia Secretary of State’s Office General Counsel Charlene McGowan: “The paper is the record of the vote.” In the declaration’s account of her explanation, paper ballots retained voters’ choices, while ballot images did not determine the actual tabulation. The quotation is McGowan’s, as reproduced in Macias’s filing.
What did the judge decide about returning the ballots?
On May 6, 2026, U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee denied Fulton County’s request for the government to return the ballots and other seized materials. The Associated Press reported that Boulee described the seizure as “certainly not perfect” and identified defective or troubling aspects of the affidavit. But he found the county had not established that the government callously disregarded its rights through a lack of probable cause, omissions, or the way agents carried out the seizure.
The judge also found that the county had not demonstrated it needed the records or would suffer irreparable harm, noting that the Department of Justice had provided copies. The ruling therefore rejected the county’s request for return of the materials; it did not adopt Macias’s “gross mischaracterizations” criticism as a court finding. The May 6 AP account does not establish whether the ballot-return dispute had further appellate developments after that order.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was the election-worker subpoena part of the same case?
No. In a separate matter, on July 7, 2026, a different federal judge, William Ray, quashed a Department of Justice subpoena seeking the names and contact details of Fulton County’s 2020 election workers. The Associated Press reported that Ray considered the request unreasonable in light of the limited need and the burden of disclosure. That ruling concerned worker identities and personal contact information—not the physical ballots or Judge Boulee’s decision on their return.
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