Atlanta, Georgia — Fulton County’s admission that more than 130 vote tabulation tapes from the 2020 election were unsigned has renewed attention on Georgia’s election procedures, though state and county officials say the issue did not affect vote totals or the outcome of the election.
The unsigned tabulator tapes involve early in-person voting and cover more than 315,000 ballots cast in Fulton County. The issue surfaced in a complaint before the Georgia State Election Board, where county officials acknowledged the tapes were not signed as required under state election rules. County attorney Ann Brumbaugh described the lapse as a procedural failure by poll workers and said Fulton County has since implemented enhanced training, updated standard operating procedures, and internal review processes to prevent a recurrence.
Georgia election rules require poll managers and witnesses to sign tabulator tapes as part of record-keeping and chain-of-custody documentation. While board members called the failure to do so troubling, officials emphasized the unsigned tapes were an administrative error, not evidence that votes were missing, altered, or unlawfully counted.
Election officials and courts have consistently said the unsigned tapes did not affect vote totals or invalidate any ballots. The tapes are not the official record of votes but serve as supplemental documentation. Ballots were scanned and counted through multiple redundant systems, including encrypted memory cards, centralized tabulation, audits, and recounts. Georgia conducted a full statewide hand recount of the 2020 presidential race, followed by additional machine recounts, all of which confirmed the original results. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stated that all voters were verified with photo ID and that a clerical error does not erase valid, legal votes.
The State Election Board voted unanimously to refer the matter to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office for potential sanctions against Fulton County, including possible fines. Courts have also ruled that Georgia counties are legally required to certify election results even when procedural errors occur, and no court has found evidence that the unsigned tapes changed the outcome of the 2020 election.
Sources:
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Fulton County Election Summary Report – Unrated
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Georgia Election Rule 183-1-12 – Unrated
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