Trump allegations of election fraud in Georgia to be investigated

President Trump's allegations of election fraud in Fulton County Georgia were revived this week after:

• The Washington Post corrected a story published on 9 January and
• A Fulton County Superior Court judge granted conditional approval to inspect Fulton County mail-in ballots that may be counterfeit.

The Washington Post Correction was humiliating:

CORRECTION

Two months after publication of this story, the Georgia secretary of state released an audio recording of President Donald Trump's [23 – ed.] December phone call with the state's top elections investigator. The recording revealed that The Post misquoted Trump's comments on the call, based on information provided by a source. Trump did not tell the investigator to "find the fraud" or say she would be "a national hero" if she did so. Instead, Trump urged the investigator to scrutinize ballots in Fulton County, Ga., asserting she would find "dishonesty" there. He also told her that she had "the most important job in the country right now." A story about the recording can be found here. The headline and text of this story have been corrected to remove quotes misattributed to Trump.

The New York Times, CNN and ABC – who had run with the original Washington Post story - also made similarly embarrassing back downs.

Fulton County had achieved national prominence following the emergence of a video on 3 December alleging voter fraud had occurred in the State Farms Arena polling booth located in Fulton County - which was debunked by State election officials the next day.

On 30 December Georgia's Senate Election Law Study Subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary Committee (Committee) unanimously passed a motion to conduct a forensic audit of absentee ballot papers in Fulton County after hearing evidence that two different ballot papers had allegedly been used in Fulton County with the following differing distinguishing features:

1. Some ballot papers had a bar code in the top right hand corner and some did not.

2. Some ballot papers were properly aligned and others were misaligned which could have seen Trump votes allocated to Biden.

The Fulton County Superior Court decision on 15 March indicates the Committee's concerns in Fulton County will be addressed.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero - who is overseeing the case - said he's inclined to order the ballots to be unsealed and reviewed by experts hired by Garland Favorito, a voting-integrity advocate.

At a hearing Monday, Amero sought a detailed plan for maintaining the secrecy and security of the ballots, which - by state law - are under seal in the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk's Office.

"We want to do this in such a way that dispels rumors and disinformation and sheds light," Amero said at the hearing. "The devil's in the details."

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report continues:

At Monday's hearing, Amero said he's willing to order the absentee ballots to be unsealed if he's assured their security will not be compromised. He requested a detailed plan, including who would review the ballots, how they would analyze them and how they would secure them.

The judge also discussed a protective order that would prohibit Favorito's experts from disclosing their work without permission from the court. And he plans to appoint a special master - perhaps a retired superior court judge - to oversee the analysis. If Amero allows it, the review of ballots could begin in late April.

"I can't sign an order until such time as I'm satisfied that the manner and method (of review) proposed by the petitioners is reasonable," the judge said.

Counterfeit ballots, election fraud – fact or fiction? This still remains an open question needing final closure.