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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Georgia GOP Senators Call for Republican Election Official to Resign

Georgia’s two GOP senators issued a joint statement Monday calling for the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, over what they call election mismanagement and a lack of transparency.

ATLANTA (CN) — Georgia’s two GOP senators issued a joint statement Monday calling for the resignation of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, over what they call election mismanagement and a lack of transparency.

Without offering proof or specifics concerning their claims of voting irregularities, Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler said the state’s management of elections has become “an embarrassment.”

The two senators are currently at the center of a battle for control of the U.S. Senate. The results of a Jan. 5 runoff election between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Perdue and another between Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock could tip the balance in the GOP-controlled chamber.  

“There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems,” the incumbent senators’ statement said. “Honest elections are paramount to the foundation of our democracy. The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections. He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”

In a statement provided to Courthouse News on Monday afternoon, Raffensperger said, “That is not going to happen.”

“The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me,” the state’s top election official said. “As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that.”

The call for Raffensperger’s resignation comes hours after the state’s election system manager, Gabriel Sterling, debunked conspiracy theories about missing ballots during a Monday press briefing. Sterling denied that ballots were harvested or that results were inaccurate.

In a CNN interview Monday, Georgia’s Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan also said his office has no evidence of widespread voter fraud of irregularities.

Noting low average wait times at polling precincts and record high turnout, Raffensperger said Monday that the election was “a resounding success” from “an election administration perspective.”

He called the process of reporting election results “orderly” and said his office has dispatched investigators wherever there have been specific allegations of illegal voting.

“And as far as lack of transparency…we were literally putting releases of results up at a minimum hourly. I and my office have been holding daily or twice-daily briefings for the press to walk them through all the numbers. So that particular charge is laughable,” Raffensperger said.

A recount of the presidential race in Georgia is likely. Under Georgia law, candidates who lose their race by less than half a percentage point have the right to request a recount.

As of Monday evening, President-elect Joe Biden has the lead in Georgia over President Trump by over 11,500 votes. The state is likely to flip to the Democratic nominee for the first time since 1992.

The Trump campaign announced Sunday that Congressman Doug Collins, who finished third in the Georgia Senate special election and conceded the race to Loeffler, will head up the recount effort.

Without providing evidence, Collins said he feels “confident” his team will discover “improperly harvested ballots and other irregularities that will prove that President Trump won Georgia fairly again on his way to re-election as president.”

A lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign alleging that late mail-in ballots were being counted in Chatham County was swiftly dismissed by a judge last Thursday for lack of evidence.

Georgia officials have until Nov. 20 to certify the election results.

Follow @KaylaGoggin_CNS
Categories / Government, Politics, Regional

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