Georgia court revives 2020 ballot inspection case

The Georgia Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit from a group seeking to conduct an external review of Fulton County's absentee ballots from the 2020 election.

A superior court judge had previously dismissed the case on grounds of standing, but a recent state Supreme Court decision widened the definition, enabling several of the plaintiffs to pursue the case.

Nine plaintiffs, among them Garland Favorito, Caroline Jeffords, Trevor Terris, Christopher Peck, Michael Scupin, Sean Draime, Stacy Doran, Brandi Taylor, and Robin Sotir had originally brought the case. However, Scupin, Draime, Doran, Taylor, and Sotir are not Fulton County residents and the court upheld the determination that they lacked standing.

Favorito, Jeffords, Terris, and Peck, meanwhile, have asserted that they do reside within the county's borders and the court remanded their claims back to the trial court. It now falls to a judge to determine whether to grant the review.

Attorney Bob Cheeley, who represents Jeffords and Sotir, celebrated the decision, telling Just the News that "this is a huge win, not only for the people of Georgia, but the people of the United States because it recognizes that, in a democracy, the people control the government, not the other way around."

"Standing should be inherent in the constitution of every state and we are very pleased that the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals have officially recognized that citizens have the right to demand accountability and transparency from their government," he continued. "We intend to go forward and examine the many irregularities that have been identified and associated with Fulton County's handling of the election, both in the way they tabulated ballots and we want to see the envelopes that should have accompanied all the absentee ballots."

He further contended that he and his clients were aware of an additional 17,000 votes in the final tally for which there are no corresponding scanned ballot images or underlying documentation to support their existence.

Favorito is represented by separate counsel, including Todd Harding and Paul Kunst.

Fulton County, Georgia's most populous, has fallen under considerable scrutiny for its handling of the 2020 presidential election. Former President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost the state to now-President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that mass election fraud affected the outcome of the contest.

The resurrection of the case comes as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis pursues an investigation into Trump's efforts to challenge the presidential election results in the Peach State. She has indicated that her office will likely make charging decisions over the Summer.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.