Fulton county is trying to fend off federal prosecutor’s demand for information on 2020 election workers
Fulton county, Georgia, is trying to fend off a subpoena from a federal prosecutor in North Carolina seeking contact information for thousands of poll workers from the 2020 election.
The subpoena, issued in April by Dan Bishop, the interim US attorney of North Carolina’s middle district, demands the county provide rosters of election staff members who served in the November 2020 election, including their identification by name, position, residential and email address and personal telephone number.
County attorneys filed a motion to quash the federal grand jury subpoena in Georgia federal court, describing it as an act of politically motivated harassment and arguing that any criminal prosecution related to the 2020 election is beyond the statute of limitations. A widespread effort to contact poll workers “will chill their participation in elections”, and “unreasonably interferes with Georgia’s sovereign authority to administer elections”, the county’s brief states.
“Election workers are the referees of our democracy, and they’re going after the referees,” said Michael McNulty, policy director for Issue One, a voting rights organization. “This is about intimidation of election officials for 2026, and taking executive branch control of elections in 2026. Election workers are supposed to be getting gratitude and protection from the federal government, not being targeted by it. This is a sign of authoritarianism, not a democratically oriented government.”
