Georgia election official says claims of widespread fraud are ‘disinformation’
Georgia’s voting system implementation manager thoroughly debunked claims of widespread voter fraud in the state, calling them “disinformation and misunderstandings” as officials inch closer to determining who officially won the state with the nation’s tightest presidential contest.
“We are going to find that people did illegally vote. ...Is it 10,353? Unlikely,” said election official Gabriel Sterling, referring to President-elect Joe Biden’s then-lead over Donald Trump in Georgia. “Every election ... is imperfect. When the margins are this tight, every little thing matters.
“We know the system counted properly. We know the ballots that were there were counted properly and correctly,” he added. “We’re going to have an audit to prove it.”
The votes and claims of voter fraud
Biden leads Trump by 10,610 votes as of 1:30 p.m., according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office. It’s unclear how many ballots have yet to be counted, but that process is nearing its end. Election officials in 47 of 159 counties have certified their results, including some larger ones like Muscogee and Richmond counties, Sterling said.
The latest data shows that 18,407 military and overseas ballots were accepted. More than 1.3 million absentee ballots were cast, and at least 7,300 provisional ballots have been accepted, Sterling said.
Sterling spent a large portion of his Monday press conference addressing claims of alleged voter fraud or vote-counting issues, many of which were attributed to human beings who made mistakes under trying circumstances.
One report mentioned by Sterling included residents dumpster diving in Spalding County to look for thrown out ballots. State investigators were sent to the site and found no ballots but empty security envelopes instead. The Secretary of State’s Office will continue to investigate claims of irregularities, he said.
“There was nothing there that affected the outcome of the election,” Sterling said.
Sterling added that Election Day in Georgia was “an amazing success” with an average voter wait time of two minutes.
“That’s unheard of,” he said.
Georgia’s Biden lead is not a sudden blue flip
Sterling also rejected the notion that Georgia “suddenly flipped blue,” citing both the close gubernatorial election between Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams in 2018 and the election of Democrats in Gwinnett and Cobb counties over the last few years.
An initial assessment from the Secretary of State’s Office showed “ticket-splitting.” Some voters who chose to support Republican U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler voted for Biden rather than Trump.
“A lot of this has to do with ticket-splitting, not some sudden odd thing,” Sterling said.
County election officials have until Nov. 13 to certify their election results. After that point, the Secretary of State’s Office will conduct a risk-limiting audit. Sterling told reporters Monday it’s unclear which race will be audited. The Secretary of State’s Office must certify its election results by Nov. 20.
State election officials have said it’s likely that Trump will request a recount in Georgia, one of three states the Associated Press has not called. Trump leads North Carolina by more than 75,000 votes. Trump also leads in Alaska.
If Biden’s lead holds, he’ll be the first Democrat to carry Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senators call for Secretary of State to resign
In a statement following Monday’s news conference Loeffler and Perdue called for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign, calling the management of Georgia’s election “an embarrassment.”
“We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process,” the statement read, in part. “There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems.”
Loeffler and Perdue went on to say that the “buck ultimately stops” with Raffensperger, and that he should step down immediately.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 2:41 PM.