ATLANTA — Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Sen. David Perdue was handed a victory in court this week in a lawsuit contending that fraudulent ballots were counted in the 2020 election.
The victory is a narrow one, with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney granting a motion to order that the court clerk preserve "documents, records, evidence and electronically stored information" related to the election indefinitely, instead of just two years as required by Georgia law.
The order indicates the judge believes the case will soon be resolved, but that with the two-year deadline approaching this November and "uncertainties occasioned by these complicated pandemic times," it would be "appropriate to include an additional layer of security" for the records.
"The Clerk of Superior Court of Fulton County is the current custodian of those records; she is statutorily obligated to maintain the records for at least two years (a period which extends to November 2022, if not beyond). There is, at present, no evidence before the Court that indicates that the Clerk is encountering any challenges in fulfilling her statutory record maintenance obligations," the order says. "That said, given the scheduling uncertainties occasioned by these complicated pandemic times and the unquestionable significance of the subject matter of Petitioners’ contentions, the Court finds it appropriate to include an additional layer of security by ordering that the records and information... are maintained by the Clerk of Court indefinitely until further order of this Court."
The order notes that the respondents in the lawsuit, which includes Fulton County elections officials, have "filed several motions to dismiss" the case, and those motions are "now ripe for consideration" - suggesting a ruling could soon be coming in the lawsuit.
According to the order, the lawsuit contends that "certain 'acts and omissions' of Respondents 'circumvented the majority vote of the people of the State of Georgia and thereby affected the outcome of the statewide General Election on November 3, 2020 in several races including the United States Senate race of Petitioner Perdue.'"
The Republican joined the suit in December, with Perdue's campaign saying its purpose was "to see if a candidate has legal standing to answer these questions as we get to the bottom of fraud in 2020 and make sure it never happens again."
Several lawsuits attempting to establish fraud both at the time of and following the 2020 election failed in courts.
See the full order below or click here.