Tipsheet

That Thing We Were Told Didn't Happen During the 2020 Election Happened After All

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  December 19, 2025 1:00 PM

Some Republicans have argued for years that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The truth is, we'll never get a clear answer on everything that went on during that year, but there was undoubtedly some questionable and shady stuff, and anyone who believes in democracy and election integrity should work tirelessly to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

That's why this story is so damning and alarming. It shows that one county in Georgia didn't bother following the rules in 2020, and it means the state's electoral votes — as well as the Senate race — could have gone in a different direction. Officials in Fulton County, Georgia — home of the state's capital, Atlanta — admitted they "violated" election rules in 2020 and accepted more than 300,000 early ballots that lacked poll worker signatures.

Here's more:

Earlier this month, Fulton County admitted that approximately 315,000 early votes from the 2020 election were illegally certified but were nonetheless still included in the final results of that election.

The admission came during a Dec. 9 hearing before the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) stemming from a challenge filed by David Cross, a local election integrity activist. Cross filed a challenge with the SEB in March 2022. Cross alleged that Fulton County violated Georgia statute in the handling of advanced voting ahead of the November 2020 election, counting hundreds of thousands of votes even though polling workers failed to sign off on the vote tabulation “tapes” critical to the certification process.

And Fulton County admitted to it.

Ann Brumbaugh, attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, told the SEB in the hearing that while she has “not seen the tapes” herself, the county does “not dispute that the tapes were not signed.” Brumbaugh continued, “It was a violation of the rule. We, since 2020, again, we have new leadership and a new building and a new board and a new standard operating procedures. And since then the training has been enhanced. … But … we don’t dispute the allegation from the 2020 election.”

While this wouldn't have propelled President Trump to victory that year, it does mean he could have won the state of Georgia, as Joe Biden beat him by less than 12,000 votes.

Unfortunately, even giving Trump Georgia's 16 electoral votes would not have gotten him over the 270 vote threshold needed to win the presidency.

It sure seems it did impact that election and give Ossoff a win.

Once again.

And they refused to do that.

He sure does.