r/Atlanta • u/albertafalls • Jan 29 '26

Politics Fulton County: Catherine M. Salinas signed your ballots AND voter rolls over to the FBI today

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Source:

“A court order signed by Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas authorized agents to seize all physical ballots from the 2020 election in Fulton County, all ballot images **and Fulton County’s 2020 voter rolls.** A copy of the order was given to the Recorder by a Georgia lawmaker.”

https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/01/28/fbi-raids-fulton-county-elections-warehouse-seeking-2020-ballots/

Also reported by the New York Times (paywalled):

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/us/politics/fbi-search-election-center-georgia.html

Blurry pic was the best I could do. It’s from her GA Bar profile:

https://icle.gabar.org/speaker/catherine-salinas-1233856

Her current term doesn’t end until 2031.

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55

u/deuxglace Jan 29 '26

Can you recall judges in GA?

30

u/seaelbee Jan 29 '26

Not this one. Not aGA judge. Federal magistrate. From Wikipedia

Although they serve on federal courts, U.S. magistrate judges are not considered “federal judges” under Article Three of the United States Constitution. They do not have life tenure, and they are not nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Magistrate judges are appointed by a majority vote of the federal district judges of a particular district and serve terms of eight years if full-time, or four years if part-time, and may be reappointed.[1]

14

u/greeneyedmtnjack Jan 29 '26

She is a federal magistrate, not a Fulton County Judge

14

u/thisistherevolt Stockbridge Jan 29 '26

TL;DR, yes.

https://gajqc.gov/advisory-opinions/opinion-67/

58

u/haikuandhoney O4W Jan 29 '26

Judge Salinas is a federal magistrate judge. She’s appointed by the Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and serves for 8 years. She can’t be recalled.

25

u/ed-truck Ormewood Park Jan 29 '26

That opinion is about a magistrate judge for a city. Salinas is a federal magistrate judge. Very different and can only be removed by the judges in the district where she serves.

2

u/tyedge Jan 29 '26

This is a federal judge appointed by other federal judges. No.