Atlanta

State closes ‘Ballot Suitcase’ investigation finding no fraud at 2020 ballot counting site

By Justin Gray, WSB-TV
By Justin Gray, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — The state elections board now says it found no evidence of any election fraud at State Farm Arena during the November 2020 election.

Former President Donald Trump and his associates pointed to State Farm Arena as part of their allegations saying it was the center of voter fraud.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned that the state elections board now wants to send a letter of apology to two elections workers targeted by conspiracy theorists.

The state election board decision was unanimous and comes after looking at the results of a lengthy two-year investigation by Secretary of State investigators and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.

It was the claims from former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani that launched a nationwide conspiracy theory of false claims about election fraud with the counting of ballots at State Farm Arena.

“They took ballots from under a table and counted them in the middle of the night,” Giuliani said at the time. “Luckily, there’s now a tape of it.”

Gray was the first to show the surveillance video that debunked those claims.

Now after two years, the state election board has voted to close the case saying definitively no fraud occurred.

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For nearly three years, conspiracy theorists targeted two specific volunteers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.

Channel 2 Action News was there as they testified before the Jan. 6 Committee.

“She called me screaming at the top of her lungs, ‘Shaye, Shaye! Oh my God, Shaye!’ Just freaking me out,” Moss testified.

State election board member Ed Lindsey wants the board to send a letter to Freeman and Moss.

“I would like to ask because of what the particular poll worker has gone through, two poll workers have gone through with certain false claims, I would like to ask that you, as the chair, write a letter affirmatively telling them the matter has been dismissed,” Lindsey said.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement: “We are glad the State Election Board finally put this issue to rest. False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm.”

Also, the board voted unanimously Tuesday not to take over the Fulton County Election Board after a review panel that had been monitoring the county for two years found major improvements in election performance.

“One of the things that I saw is remarkable change and improvement during the process,” Lindsey said.

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