What records (tabulator tapes, memory cards, ballot images) are legally required to be preserved after Georgia elections and how have preservation rules changed since 2020?
Executive summary
Georgia law has long required counties and the Secretary of State to keep “primary and election” records for at least 24 months after an election 2020/title-21/chapter-2/article-2/part-2/section-21-2-52/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[1] [2], but the post‑2020 years saw targeted additions and heated debate — notably a law requiring ballot images to be retained as public records and new administrative rule changes scrutinized by advocates [3] [4]. Practical disputes about missing ballot images, unsigned tabulator tapes and whether some specific retention windows had already expired drove recent investigations and an FBI evidentiary warrant tied to records-retention and election‑crime statutes [3] [5] [6].
1. What the statute says now: the baseline 24‑month rule
Georgia’s codified baseline retention requirement — reflected in Georgia Code § 21‑2‑52 (and earlier § 21‑2‑73) — directs that “all primary and election documents” on file with the Secretary of State, county superintendents, registrars, municipal authorities and political party committees be preserved for at least 24 months and may be destroyed thereafter unless another law provides otherwise [1] [2]. The Georgia Archives publishes complementary state and local government retention schedules that implement and specify categories of records for state and local custodians [7] [8] [9].
2. Which specific records are implicated: tabulator tapes, ballot images, memory cards
Tabulator tapes — the printed receipts from ballot scanners — are explicitly treated as part of the official election record and subject to chain‑of‑custody procedures and signatures under state administrative rules; Rule 183‑1‑12‑.12 requires a poll manager and two witnesses to print and sign tapes as “a true and correct copy” of a scanner’s output [5]. Ballot images (digital images created when ballots are scanned) became the subject of new statutory attention after 2020 when the legislature passed a law requiring ballot images to be kept as public record, a change triggered by preservation concerns raised during recounts and public requests [3]. The available sources document these two categories but do not provide a clear, source‑cited statutory retention period that uniquely applies to memory cards or removable storage used in some voting machines, so the statutory baseline 24 months remains the default unless another law or rule applies [1] [2]; the reporting does not supply a definitive, separate retention rule for memory cards.
3. How rules changed since 2020: ballot images and administrative shifts
After the 2020 election, Georgia’s legislature explicitly required that ballot images be kept as public records — a statutory response to requests and disputes over access to scanned ballot files — meaning ballot images were elevated into the class of preserved election materials [3]. At the same time, administrative practice and oversight shifted: the State Election Board (SEB) changed membership and some SEB rule revisions and record‑search practices have drawn lawsuits and preservation notices from watchdog groups like American Oversight, which argue that rule changes and inadequate searches may impede access to records [4]. Those advocates contend the practical application of retention standards and search obligations has been altered or weakened since 2021 even as statutes retain the 24‑month baseline [4].
4. Where disputes arose in practice: Fulton County’s unsigned tapes and missing images
Practical controversies arose when Fulton County acknowledged that over 130 tabulator tapes from 2020 were unsigned — documents that state rules require to be certified by three poll workers — and that thousands of ballot images were missing from public requests, prompting an SEB investigation and scrutiny from legislators and the public [5] [3]. Election officials and some experts maintain that audits and recounts validated results despite these record‑keeping lapses, and that retention windows in some federal statutes cited in recent warrants had already passed [6] [3]. Opposing voices, including public‑records advocates, have responded with lawsuits and preservation notices alleging obstruction or inadequate compliance with retention duties [4].
5. What remains unclear from available reporting
The sources clearly establish the 24‑month statutory floor and the post‑2020 requirement to retain ballot images as public records, and they document administrative controversies and legal challenges [1] [2] [3] [4]. However, the reporting provided does not supply an exhaustive list of every category (for example, machine memory cards) with a separate, statutory retention period or detailed procedural technical standards for digital evidence chain‑of‑custody; therefore definitive statements about memory‑card retention beyond the 24‑month default cannot be made from these sources alone [1] [2] [7].