A U.S. district judge ruled Wednesday that the federal government can continue to hold on to the 2020 election ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, that the FBI seized earlier this year from an Atlanta warehouse. 

District Judge J.P. Boulee’s ruled against the county, which had argued that the ballots, any electronic copies of the ballots, and any other election materials should be returned because the seizure of them was improper and unconstitutional, according to the Associated Press. 

The seizure by the FBI on January 28 was based on the Justice Department’s investigation into “irregularities that occurred during the 2020 presidential election in the County.” They identified two laws that may have been violated. One involved the maintaining of election records and the other “prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots,” according to the AP.

Joe Biden was declared the winner in Georgia, and received the state’s 16 electoral votes.