The U.S. Justice Department is suing Fulton County officials in an attempt to obtain sensitive voter records from the 2020 presidential election.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Atlanta, accuses the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections and Clerk of Courts Che Alexander of failing to comply with a subpoena sent to the county in October. The subpoena requested "all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County," the lawsuit reads.

The Justice Department stated that its request aimed to ensure Georgia's compliance with federal election laws and to investigate what officials claimed were "unexplained anomalies in vote tabulation."

In response to multiple requests for the information, Alexander told the department that the requested records were "under seal and may not be produced absent a Court Order," the lawsuit reads.

The federal agency is now requesting that the court rule that Alexander has violated Title III of the Civil Rights Act and order the production of the records within five days of a court order.

Fulton County officials told CBS News Atlanta that they were "not at liberty to comment on pending legislation."

Fulton County elections under the microscope

The handling of the 2020 election by Fulton County, Georgia's most populous county, has come under scrutiny following President Trump's narrow defeat by President Biden in the Peach State. 

The president and other Republican allies have claimed that ballots were duplicated or that there were other attempts at voter fraud in the county.

While a state review of the county's audit of the 2020 presidential race found errors and inconsistencies in the vote count, including some double-counting of ballots, the review said the errors weren't enough to alter the election results. 

The order identified 36 inconsistencies in batch tally sheets for the audit, but found they were due to "human error" and not "intentional misconduct." It also found they did not affect the final election results as they represented a "fractional number" of the votes cast.

The county agreed to take remedial steps to prevent repeat issues, according to the order. Those policies and procedures were put in place in time for the 2022 election.

Other DOJ lawsuits target states

The lawsuit against Fulton County was one of five filed last week by the Justice Department in connection with election laws — the others being Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Nevada.

The Trump administration has characterized the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, and the Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide the voter lists and information about ineligible voters.

"States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a press release. "At this Department of Justice, we will not permit states to jeopardize the integrity and effectiveness of elections by refusing to abide by our federal elections laws. If states will not fulfill their duty to protect the integrity of the ballot, we will."

The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democratic officials and others who question exactly how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said her office declined to provide unredacted voter data.

"We will not hand over Coloradans' sensitive voting information to Donald Trump. He does not have a legal right to the information," Griswold said Thursday after the lawsuit was filed. "I will continue to protect our elections and democracy, and look forward to winning this case."

The agency has now sued at least 18 states and Fulton County over their voter registration rolls in recent months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.