Established Fact
In Favorito et al. v. Wan et al. (Henry County Superior Court, Civil Action No. 2020CV343938), Judge Brian Amero on May 21, 2021 entered an order purporting to unseal approximately 147,000 Fulton County absentee ballots for forensic inspection. The unsealing, however, was expressly contingent on the court issuing a further order establishing protocols to ensure the integrity of the original records — a second order that was never entered, leaving the ballots formally under seal throughout the proceedings. On October 13, 2021, Judge Amero dismissed the suit entirely, ruling that the plaintiffs “failed to allege a particularized injury” and therefore lacked standing to proceed. Favorito appealed; the Georgia Court of Appeals initially affirmed the dismissal, but the Georgia Supreme Court vacated that opinion and remanded, ultimately resulting in partial reinstatement of four plaintiffs’ claims in 2023.
Citations
Favorito et al. v. Wan et al., Henry County Superior Court (assigned), Civil Action No. 2020CV343938, Order of May 21, 2021 (Judge Brian J. Amero); see also Kayla Goggin, “Judge Dismisses Ballot Inspection Lawsuit Alleging Fraud in Georgia’s 2020 Presidential Race,” Courthouse News Service (Oct. 13, 2021), https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-dismisses-ballot-inspection-lawsuit-alleging-fraud-in-georgias-2020-presidential-race/
Favorito et al. v. Wan et al., Civil Action No. 2020CV343938, Order on the Many Pending Motions at 6 n.8 (Fulton County Superior Court, Feb. 4, 2026) (McBurney, J.) (“The judge to whom this case was initially assigned entered an order dated 21 May 2021 purporting to unseal the records, but this unsealing was contingent upon the judge issuing a separate order detailing the ‘protocols and practices’ that would ensure the integrity of the original records. That second order has never been entered.”), available at https://electioncases.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Favorito-v-Wan-FCSC-Opinion-020426.pdf.
Favorito v. Wan, Order of Dismissal (Henry County Superior Court, Oct. 13, 2021) (Amero, J.) (plaintiffs “failed to allege a particularized injury”); see Sara Murray, “Judge Dismisses Fulton County Ballot Review Case in Georgia,” CNN (Oct. 13, 2021), https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/judge-dismisses-ballot-review-case-georgia ; Courthouse News Service, supra n.1 (“‘regardless of the veracity of these allegations,’ the voters lacked standing to bring the lawsuit”).
Favorito v. Wan, 364 Ga. App. 745 (2022) (affirming dismissal for lack of standing), vacated, Favorito v. Wan, 367 Ga. App. 642 (2023) (on remand from Georgia Supreme Court in light of Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Henry Cnty. Bd. of Comm’rs, 315 Ga. 39 (2022), reinstating claims of four Fulton County resident petitioners), available at https://law.justia.com/cases/georgia/court-of-appeals/2023/a22a0939.html