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What specific ballot chain-of-custody incidents were investigated in Georgia in 2020 and 2021?
Executive summary
Investigations in Georgia after the 2020 election focused on several discrete chain-of-custody and ballot-handling incidents, most prominently a Fulton County “ballot suitcase” allegation, misplaced memory cards/registers and double-counted ballots during the Fulton recount, and at least one prosecution referral for “misplaced ballots” tied to the November 3, 2020 general election (state filings and board reports). The Georgia Secretary of State’s office referred a case involving four memory cards registering 2,760 votes for prosecution [1], the State Election Board dismissed the State Farm Arena “ballot suitcase” probe as showing no conspiracy or fraud [2], and oversight reviewers flagged double-counting of 3,075 ballots and other recount/preservation problems in Fulton County [3] [4].
1. “Ballot suitcase” at State Farm Arena — widely publicized, formally closed
A long-running inquiry known as the “ballot suitcase” case (State Election Board case SEB2020-059) examined allegations of malfeasance at State Farm Arena in Atlanta after the 2020 election; the State Election Board ultimately dismissed that investigation and its report concluded there was no evidence of a conspiracy or fraud [2]. The allegation was amplified in media and political forums, and two workers who were accused sued media outlets; One America News Network settled and retracted some coverage, while a separate defamation claim against Rudy Giuliani remains pending, which illustrates how contested the narrative became even after the board’s finding [2].
2. Misplaced memory cards and 2,760 votes — prosecution referral from Secretary of State
The Georgia Secretary of State’s referrals for prosecution included a specific incident involving improper handling of four memory cards that collectively registered 2,760 votes in Fayette County during the November 3, 2020 election; that referral was among several the State Election Board bound over for possible criminal charges, listed alongside felon and non‑citizen voting allegations [1]. The Secretary of State’s materials present this as a concrete chain-of-custody / handling failure that was forwarded to prosecutors rather than a statewide fraud finding [1].
3. Fulton County recount problems — double-counting, data backup failures and preservation concerns
Independent monitors and subsequent oversight reviews reported operational failures in Fulton County that involved chain-of-custody risks: scanners and transfers were sometimes mishandled, ballot bags often weren’t sealed, and a recount process included a double-counting of 3,075 ballots and unbacked-up server data during the recount that county officials said likely resulted from mishandling of ballot batches [4] [3]. State election officials determined these mistakes would not have changed the election outcome, and some complaints about recount and preservation were not pursued further by the board, which created political controversy about whether the oversight was sufficient [3] [4].
4. Administrative referrals vs. criminal indictments — different paths and standards
Georgia’s public materials and news reports show a mix of administrative referrals (e.g., the Secretary of State sending cases to prosecutors for possible charges, including misplaced ballots and memory card handling) and high‑profile criminal prosecutions that focused on broader schemes to overturn the election [1] [5]. Administrative referrals for chain-of-custody issues do not necessarily equate to proof of criminal fraud; the State Election Board’s dismissal of the State Farm Arena case and the finding that Fulton errors ‘‘would not have changed the outcome’’ underscore that investigators distinguished sloppy procedures from evidence of a coordinated fraud [2] [3].
5. Politicized narratives and competing accounts — how coverage diverged
The chain‑of‑custody incidents were repeatedly invoked by election-denial advocates as evidence of widespread fraud, but watchdogs and state boards often reached different conclusions. The Brennan Center and other analyses documented how claims about chain‑of‑custody violations were used in political campaigns and by some candidates to sow doubt [6]. Conversely, state boards and independent monitors characterized many problems as systemic mismanagement or sloppy handling — important operational failures but not proof of a conspiracy to change results [4] [2].
6. What available sources do not mention
Available sources in the supplied set do not mention some popularized specific claims such as a quantified, verified count of “148,000 miscounted ballots” tied to a single chain‑of‑custody incident in 2020 (the Guardian item refers to later demands for 148,000 ballots but does not establish a confirmed chain‑of‑custody investigation of that magnitude in 2020) — that claim is part of ongoing election-denial narratives and subsequent 2024–2025 disputes rather than a settled investigatory finding in the 2020–2021 probes cited here [7]. Also not found in current reporting provided here: any State Election Board or prosecutorial finding that chain-of-custody incidents altered the statewide 2020 result [3] [2].
Summary takeaway: Investigations in Georgia singled out specific chain‑of‑custody and handling problems — misplaced ballots, mishandled memory cards, unsealed ballot bags and recount double‑counting — and some cases were referred to prosecutors [1] [3] [4]. But state boards and oversight reviews largely treated these episodes as operational failures rather than evidence of a coordinated fraud that changed the outcome, and at least one high-profile probe (the “ballot suitcase”) was dismissed with no evidence of conspiracy [2].