Far-right lawsuit that justified Trump's ballot raid crashes and burns in court

A ballot inspection lawsuit in Fulton County, Georgia, that formed part of the basis for the Trump administration's raid on ballots from the 2020 election has been tossed out of a superior court in Atlanta.

The suit in question was filed by Garland Favorito, an election conspiracy theorist who has tried to litigate the results of the 2020 election for years. Central to his argument in the case is a claim from Republican Party activist Suzi Voyles that there were over a hundred "pristine" ballots for former President Joe Biden that had suspiciously identical markings, as though it was the same ballot duplicated over and over. Audits of the election did not back up this claim.

The judge in Fulton County Superior Court had a blunt assessment of this lawsuit in an order dismissing the case, saying that even if any of these claims were true, it's moot.

"Here, Petitioners face none of the future uncertainty necessary to maintain their declaratory judgment actions," said the order. "The 2020 election is over. The due process and equal rights violations supposedly visited upon Petitioners by Respondents' allegedly flawed execution of election processes have already accrued. A declaratory judgment is never a remedy for a past wrong. There is nothing for this Court to declare that would enable Petitioners to make better, more informed decisions about future actions. Because Petitioners do not present any actual or justiciable controversies in their various demands and prayers for declaratory relief, those claims must be dismissed."

The order further commanded Favorito to cover $29,285 in legal expenses for Fulton County.

This comes as Fulton County has filed a motion demanding that the FBI return the ballots seized as part of the Trump administration's new investigation. Experts are alarmed at the seizure, warning it is a sign Trump plans to look for any pretext to meddle in state elections in 2026.