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Georgia official responds to 315,000 Ballots not properly signed in 2020

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Georgia official responds to 315,000 Ballots not properly signed in 2020


Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said a “clerical error” in the state does not “erase valid, legal votes,” responding to renewed scrutiny of Georgia’s 2020 election results, which former President Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed was “stolen” from him.

Earlier this month, Fulton County acknowledged before the Georgia State Election Board that more than 130 tabulator tapes from the 2020 election were not signed, a lapse officials said involved about 315,000 ballots and which brought renewed scrutiny and questioning of the results even though multiple audits, including a hand count, affirmed the results.

Newsweek has reached out to Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts for comment via email on Wednesday.

Why It Matters

Trump and his allies have consistently claimed, without evidence of widespread voter fraud, that the 2020 election was stolen and that former President Joe Biden did not win in Georgia and other states.

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In early January 2021, ahead of Biden taking office, Trump infamously called Raffensperger, a Republican, asking him to help “find” enough votes to overturn the election. Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, and even if Georgia was flipped for Trump, Biden still would have won the election.

There have been multiple audits, recounts and investigations into Georgia’s 2020 election, including a statewide hand recount and audit that confirmed the original results, as well as reviews by state officials and election boards addressing procedural errors and fraud allegations.

What To Know

Earlier this month, Fulton County attorney Ann Brumbaugh told the Georgia State Election Board that the county “does not dispute that the tapes were not signed,” calling the missing signatures “a violation of the rule.”

Georgia state Rule 183-1-12-.12 states that after polls close, and in order to tabulate results, “the poll manager and the two witnesses shall cause each ballot scanner to print three tapes of the tabulated results and shall sign each tape indicating that it is a true and correct copy of the tape produced by the ballot scanner.” This was not properly done for more than 130 tapes, which accounts for around 315,000 votes.

However, the lack of signature does not negate the ballots, and they have been recounted multiple times to verify results.

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In a Saturday X post, Raffensperger reiterated this, writing “all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots.” He continued, “A clerical error at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes.”

The news of the missing signatures has ignited claims that the election was stolen among several Republicans and Make America Great Again (MAGA) leaders, including Elon Musk chiming in that “massive voting fraud [was] uncovered,” and the president who reshared a post on his Truth Social account arguing that in Georgia “intentional human intervention” led the election to to be taken from Trump.

What People Are Saying

Representative Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, said in December 20 X post: “President Trump is owed a massive apology. Turns out over 300,000 early votes in the 2020 election were illegally certified but still included in the final results. I’m tired of empty words from weak leaders. The people of Georgia deserve action.”

Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts told Channel 2: “We do not have anything to hide, and we will never have anything to hide as long as I’m here.”

Steve Bannon said in a GETTR post on the matter: “Mr President, Please No More Strongly Worded Letters from DoJ…Call Out the U.S. Marshals, Seize the Ballots, the Machines and Arrest the Guilty.”

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Donald Trump Jr. said in a December 19 X post: “So what we all knew back in 2020, what we all stated out loud and everyone in the media, the establishment, and the Washington DC machine lied about ended up being 100% true. I’m so shocked! Yet another conspiracy theory proven right!”

What Happens Next

On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney granted the election board access to the country’s 2020 ballots. He ruled that the election board must pay for the matter, which Fulton County has estimated it will cost nearly $400,000 to comply with the subpoena. The judge has ordered the county to produce a detailed cost list by January 7.

Brumbaugh has noted that “procedures have been updated,” and “since then, the training has been enhanced, the poll watchers are trained specifically. They’ve got to sign the tapes in the morning, and they’ve got to sign the tapes when they’re run at the end of the day.”



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Georgia

Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia

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Co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville arrested in Georgia


The co-owner of Yurezz Home Center in Greeneville has been arrested in Georgia, according to a report obtained by News 5.

Earlier this week, News 5 told you about the dealership in Greeneville that abruptly shut down last month.

This has left homeowners with partially built homes and employees without jobs.

It is not yet clear why Richard Altman was taken into custody.

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This is a developing story.



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Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking

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Georgia Supreme Court upholds convictions of men in deadly shooting during gas station carjacking


Two men found guilty of murdering a man while he was pumping air into his tires at a Georgia gas station will remain in prison, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.

Miles Chatezal Collins and Josiah Hughley, Jr. had appealed to the state’s highest court after they were found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, violating Georgia’s Street Gang, Terrorism and Prevention Act, and hijacking a motor vehicle, among other charges in 2025.

The men’s charges stem from a shooting on July 10, 2022, at a QuickTrip gas station in Peachtree Corners. According to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, 30-year-old Bradley Lamar Coleman had stopped at the gas station to fill up his tires when Collins, Hughley, and a third man pulled up beside him and tried to steal his Dodge Charger.

When Coleman tried to stop the men, officials say they shot him and fled the scene.

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Authorities say the three men were members of the Blood gang and had tried to steal the car to increase their status.

While their first trial ended in a mistrial due to a comment by the prosecution, a jury found Collins, Hughley, and their co-defendant, David Jarrad Booker, guilty of more than a dozen charges in 2025. They were each sentenced to life plus 145 years in prison.

In Collins and Hughley’s appeal to the state Supreme Court, they argued that there was insufficient evidence to support some of the charges and that the judge in the case improperly admitted certain evidence and committed errors in instructing the jurors.

The justices’ rulings disagreed, finding that their attorneys failed to object to the supposed errors and that the two men’s claims were insufficient.

The judges also found that a claim by Hughley that his counsel failed him by not asserting that a statement made to law enforcement should have been suppressed. With those findings, the Supreme Court chose not to overrule the case, letting the convictions and sentences stand.

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“We are grateful for this affirmation from the Georgia Supreme Court,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Thanks to the incredible work of our team of trial and appellate prosecutors, and all of the staff that assisted with defending these convictions, two dangerous criminals will remain in prison.”

Booker’s appeal remains pending.



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Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400

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Trooper injured in chain-reaction crash on Georgia 400


A Georgia State Patrol trooper and two other motorists were involved in a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash that injured two people and blocked northbound traffic on Georgia 400 near Abernathy Road on July 7, 2026. (SKYFOX 5)

A Georgia State Patrol trooper sustained injuries Tuesday afternoon after striking the rear of a stopped vehicle on Georgia 400, triggering a three-vehicle chain-reaction crash. 

What we know:

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The collision happened around 3:43 p.m. on the northbound lanes just south of Abernathy Road. 

A trooper was traveling north on Georgia 400 when traffic in front of the cruiser came to a sudden stop. The trooper was unable to halt in time and struck the rear of a second vehicle, which then slammed into a third vehicle. 

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All three vehicles sustained enough damage to be towed from the scene, according to the state patrol report. The trooper had visible injuries and received treatment onsite, while medics transported the second driver to a local hospital. The driver of the third car complained of injuries but refused medical treatment at the scene. 

What we don’t know:

Officials have not yet confirmed the current medical conditions of the hospitalized driver or the injured trooper. It remains unclear what caused traffic to come to a sudden halt before the chain-reaction collision occurred. 

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The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Lt. E. Starling of the Georgia State Patrol DPS Public Information Office, who provided the preliminary crash details in an official statement. 

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