Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rafensparger has said that Senator Lindsey Graham asked if it was possible to legally invalidate ballots after Donald Trump narrowly lost statehood.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Raffensparger said Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned him about the state’s signature-matching law and asked whether political bias might have played a role in counties where election workers Mismatches have a high rate of signature. According to Raffensparger, Graham then asked if he had the right to toss all mail-in ballots in these counties.
Raffespanzer was reportedly “stunned” by the question, with Graham suggesting that he find a way to legally throw out absentee ballots.
He said that it is certain that he wanted to go down that road.
Graham confirmed the conversation with reporters on Capitol Hill, but said it was ridiculous that he pressured Raffenspar to legally throw out absentee ballots. According to Graham, he only wanted to know more about the process of verifying the signature, because what happens in Georgia “affects the entire nation”.
“I felt it was a good conversation,” Graham said Monday after the interview was published. “I am surprised to hear that he has shown it that way.”
Trump has refused to accept the results showing Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, alleging false fraud and irregularities that election officials from both parties have dismissed as qualifying.
Georgia, a staunchly Republican state, with 16 electoral votes, is currently re-running around 5m of presidential ballots, expected to be completed by 20 November. Biden led the state with about 14,000 votes after the initial time.
This is when Raffensberger faces a growing conflict with his own party after defending the state’s electoral process. Two of the state’s Republican senators, David Perdue and Kyle Loeffler, both locked in tight run-off elections to keep their seats, have called for Ruffensberger’s resignation – a call that Raffensberger has rejected.
Georgia congressman Doug Collins, who is spearheading the president’s effort to prove fraud in the state, has also been critical of Ruffensberger, accusing him of siding with Democrats as he voiced false support for Trump stealing the election Was rejected. In the interview, Ruffensberger called out Collins, who has not fought the result of a special election race lost to Loeffler, a “liar” and a “Charlatan”.
Raffensberger said that every allegation of voter fraud would be completely resolved, but at present there was no credible evidence that a massive wrongdoing had occurred to influence the outcome of the election. He also told the Post that the repetition of the results of the preliminary calculations would “confirm” and prove the accuracy of Dominion voting machines, which Trump falsely claimed removed votes cast for him.
Voting rights and ethics groups condemned Graham’s comments, and some called for his resignation as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Noa Bookbinder, executive director of responsibility and ethics for citizenship, said, “Not only is it wrong for Senator Graham to consider illegal behavior, but his suggestion would have undermined the integrity of our election and the American people’s confidence in our democracy. is.” Washington, in a statement. “Under the guise of preventing election fraud, it seems Graham is suggesting doing it.”
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