Georgia

Georgia: ‘Kraken’ back on its leash: Election lawsuit withdrawn | David Wickert/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The “kraken” is back on its leash and licking its wounds. After vowing to “unleash the kraken” — a mythical beast — on alleged election fraud and to overturn the presidential election in Georgia, attorney Sidney Powell quietly withdrew the lawsuit Tuesday. The move came a day before Joe Biden will be sworn in as the nation’s next president. Powell, once a member of President Donald Trump’s legal team, filed the lawsuit in November in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. Like other lawsuits seeking to overturn the election results, Powell’s made numerous unsubstantiated allegations of voting fraud. Among other things, she falsely claimed the company that provided Georgia’s new election equipment has ties to Venezuela and could have altered results. Like the others, Powell’s lawsuit went nowhere in court. In December a U.S. district judge dismissed the case. She then appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. But the case ran into more trouble. Last week the appeals court notified Powell that she had not been admitted to practice law in the 11th Circuit. The court told Powell that, unless she applied to be admitted, her motions would be stricken and treated as if they had never been filed. Powell voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit Tuesday. But it’s not the end of her legal issues. Earlier this month, Dominion Voting Systems, the company that provided Georgia’s machines, filed a lawsuit against Powell in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. The lawsuit says Powell’s “viral disinformation campaign” has harmed its business. Dominion is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages.

Full Article: ‘Kraken’ back on its leash: Georgia election lawsuit withdrawn

Georgia: Audit of Senate run-off votes finds similar results in test of voting system | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

One county’s audit of Georgia’s voting system found just a five-vote difference between machine and hand totals in one of this month’s U.S. Senate runoff elections, according to findings released Thursday. The manual review of 43,000 ballots cast in Bartow County should give voters confidence in the outcome of the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue, county Elections Supervisor Joseph Kirk said. “We know every voter’s vote was accurately counted in Bartow County because we checked — one ballot at a time,” Kirk wrote in an audit report. “Now that every vote cast in the state is recorded on a paper ballot, we can give our communities certainty and confidence that their votes were accurately recorded.” Kirk conducted his county’s audit the same way as a statewide review of the presidential election in November. After the Senate runoffs, which Ossoff won across Georgia by 1.2%, Kirk decided to do another hand tally to counter “a mountain of misinformation” about the state’s election equipment manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems. Twenty-four workers conducted the audit over 9 1/2 hours last week, at a cost to the county of about $3,000. The audit found a total of 89 votes that were different from the original count, usually caused by human errors when sorting ballots into piles of 10 each. Because those votes were distributed among both candidates, the overall count was only five votes off from official results, with Ossoff losing four votes and Perdue gaining one. The audit doesn’t change the official results in Bartow, a mostly Republican county northwest of Atlanta where Perdue received 32,239 votes to Ossoff’s 10,735.

Full Article: Georgia county’s election audit validated results of Georgia Senate runoff race

Georgia: Atlanta Prosecutor Appears to Move Closer to Trump Inquiry | Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim/The New York Times

Prosecutors in Georgia appear increasingly likely to open a criminal investigation of President Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the state’s 2020 election, an inquiry into offenses that would be beyond his federal pardon power. The new Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, is already weighing whether to proceed, and among the options she is considering is the hiring of a special assistant from outside to oversee the investigation, according to people familiar with her office’s deliberations. At the same time, David Worley, the lone Democrat on Georgia’s five-member election board, said this week that he would ask the board to make a referral to the Fulton County district attorney by next month. Among the matters he will ask prosecutors to investigate is a phone call Mr. Trump made in which he pressured Georgia’s secretary of state to overturn the state’s election results. Jeff DiSantis, a district attorney spokesman, said the office had not taken any action to hire outside counsel and declined to comment further on the case. Some veteran Georgia prosecutors said they believed Mr. Trump had clearly violated state law. “If you took the fact out that he is the president of the United States and look at the conduct of the call, it tracks the communication you might see in any drug case or organized crime case,” said Michael J. Moore, the former United States attorney for the Middle District of Georgia. “It’s full of threatening undertone and strong-arm tactics.”

Full Article: Atlanta Prosecutor Appears to Move Closer to Trump Inquiry – The New York Times

Georgia: Judge considers voter suppression claims in broad voting rights suit | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

So much has changed in Georgia over the past two years, including new voting laws and the election of Democratic U.S. senators, that a federal judge should reject a lawsuit alleging rampant voter suppression, attorneys for the state said Tuesday. The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to rule in their favor in the case that has been pending since Democrat Stacey Abrams lost the 2018 election for governor to Republican Brian Kemp. But attorneys for Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group founded by Abrams that filed the suit, told Jones that Georgia’s elections continue to disenfranchise voters through voter registration cancellations, absentee ballot rejections, long lines and poll closures. Jones didn’t immediately decide Tuesday on the state’s motion for summary judgment, a key step before a potential trial. He questioned whether he has the authority to consider anything beyond the secretary of state’s voter registration cancellation practices because county governments handle most election functions.

Full Article: Far-reaching Georgia voting rights case argued in federal court

Georgia: After Attacks On Election Integrity, Officials Work To Rebuild Confidence | Stephen Fowler/NPR

It’s been more than a week since the Georgia Senate runoff elections delivered control of Congress to Democrats. But inside the Bartow County, Ga., Senior Center on Tuesday, a dozen teams worked in pairs to do a hand recount of more than 43,000 votes cast in the Jan. 5 runoffs. The final margin for the races are outside the threshold for a recount, and the voters in this county an hour northwest of Atlanta are about 75% Republican — so the result isn’t close, or expected to change. So why did poll workers spend a day conducting a voluntary audit at the end of an exhausting election cycle? “A lot of my voters, a lot of my citizens, do not trust the voting system after November, after a lot of misinformation went out about this specific system,” elections director Joseph Kirk said. Kirk is a firm believer in transparency and education when it comes to the state’s voting system – especially after one of the most secure elections in state history, one that saw record turnout and few reported problems. But Georgia was also ground zero for misinformation and attacks on election integrity, led by President Trump and a number of top Republicans in Georgia and beyond.

Full Article: Georgia Republicans Work To Rebuild Election Confidence : NPR

Georgia: Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney dismisses election fraud claims: ‘There’s just nothing to them’ | Chris Joyner/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The acting U.S. attorney for Northern Georgia, who was named after his predecessor reportedly angered President Trump for not finding election fraud, told staffers in a conference call Monday that he dismissed two election fraud cases on his first day. “I would love to stand out on the street corner and scream this, and I can’t,” said Bobby Christine, according to an audio recording of the call obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But I can tell you I closed the two most — I don’t know, I guess you’d call them high profile or the two most pressing election issues this office has,” he said. “I said I believe, as many of the people around the table believed, there’s just nothing to them.” Christine also said he found fewer election-related investigations in the office than he expected. “Quite frankly, just watching television you would assume that you got election cases stacked from the floor to the ceiling,” said Christine. “I am so happy to find out that’s not the case, but I didn’t know coming in.” Christine declined to comment on the call when contacted by the AJC Tuesday. Former U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak, a Republican who had served since 2017, had planned to remain through the end of the Trump administration but resigned abruptly Jan. 4. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported the White House forced Pak to resign because Trump believed he was not being aggressive enough in investigating allegations of election fraud. In a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger two days before Pak’s resignation, Trump disparaged Pak as a “never Trumper U.S. attorney.” Christine, the U.S. attorney for Georgia’s Southern District, was appointed to replace him. The appointment bypassed the number two prosecutor in the office, Kurt Erskine, and raised fears of political interference as Trump was waging a campaign to overturn the results of the election.

Full Article: Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney in Georgia dismisses election fraud claims: ‘There’s just nothing to them’

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp: Photo ID rule for Georgia absentee ballots ‘front and center’ in 2021 Legislature | Greg Bluestein/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Brian Kemp strongly endorsed adding photo ID requirements for absentee ballots on Monday at the start of a legislative session that’s sure to be shaped by a debate over voting laws after epic turnout helped Democrats flip Georgia in the race for president and sweep the Senate runoffs. In an interview, the Republican said he is “reserving judgment” on a series of proposals that seek to end at-will absentee voting, ban ballot drop boxes and restrict state officials or outside groups from sending out absentee ballot applications. But Kemp said he unequivocally supported measures to tighten voter ID laws for mail-in ballots, which Republicans have targeted after record turnout helped Joe Biden capture Georgia, snapping 24 years of GOP presidential wins, and Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock swept Senate runoffs. “It’s a simple way to make sure that type of voting is further secured, and it’s a good first place to start,” Kemp said, adding: “It’s completely reasonable in this day and time, and in light of what’s going on, it would give all voters peace of mind and wouldn’t be restrictive.” He’s found common cause with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who wants to eliminate a voter’s signatures as the main verification method for an absentee ballot and replace it with options that could include requiring a voter to submit a copy of his or her driver’s license or an ID number with the ballot.

Full Article: Brian Kemp: Photo ID rule for Georgia absentee ballots ‘front and center’ in 2021 Legislature

Georgia: Trump pressured an elections investigator in call legal experts say could amount to obstruction | Amy Gardner/The Washington Post

President Trump urged Georgia’s lead elections investigator to “find the fraud” in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a “national hero,” according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation. Trump placed the call to the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state’s office shortly before Christmas — while the individual was leading an inquiry into allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County, in the suburbs of Atlanta, according to people familiar with the episode. The president’s attempts to intervene in an ongoing investigation could amount to obstruction of justice or other criminal violations, legal experts said, though they cautioned a case could be difficult to prove. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had launched the inquiry following allegations that Cobb election officials had improperly accepted mail ballots with signatures that did not match those on file — claims that state officials ultimately concluded had no merit. In an interview with The Washington Post on Friday, Raffensperger confirmed that Trump had placed the Dec. 23 call. He said he was not familiar with the specifics of what the president said in the conversation with his chief investigator, but said it was inappropriate for Trump to have tried to intervene in the case. “That was an ongoing investigation,” Raffensperger said. “I don’t believe that an elected official should be involved in that process.” The Post is withholding the name of the investigator, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials.

Full Article: Trump pressured a Georgia elections investigator in call legal experts say could amount to obstruction – The Washington Post

Georgia: Voluntary audit of US Senate run-off election results planned in Bartow County | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs weren’t as close as the contentious presidential election, but one county is planning a full audit of every ballot to verify the results. Bartow County Elections Supervisor Joseph Kirk announced Friday that election workers will manually recount the county’s 43,000 ballots cast in the runoffs, checking the accuracy of machine counts. “The whole reason we have these paper ballots is to confirm that we counted properly,” Kirk said. “This is a key step in promoting public confidence. Whether the results are close or not, we should always be working toward that.” There’s no reason to doubt that the Dominion Voting Systems election equipment, which uses touchscreens to print out paper ballots, counted votes accurately, Kirk said. But a human review will provide another check on the process. Unlike after the presidential election, a statewide audit of every ballot isn’t planned by the secretary of state’s office. Hand recounts and machine counts in November both confirmed that Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump by about 12,000 votes in Georgia, a 0.24% margin. In the Senate runoffs, as of Friday, Democrat Jon Ossoff led Republican David Perdue by nearly 1%, and Democrat Raphael Warnock was ahead of Republican Kelly Loeffler by almost 2%.

Full Article: Voluntary audit of US Senate election results planned in Bartow County

Georgia: Next Capitol stress test for democracy: What if the Senate won’t seat Georgia’s winners? | Kevin Johnson/The Fulcrum

The Senate election results in Georgia have Democrats dancing in the streets and democracy advocates cheering another seemingly successful high stress election. Turnout was extraordinary for a runoff, election officials performed efficiently, and fears of conflict and voter intimidation proved unfounded. But there could be trouble ahead. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will not officially become senators, and cannot swing control of Congress to their party, until they are seated by the Senate. That normally mechanical procedure could become the next round in our never-ending partisan dogfight. If either Republican candidate contests the results — as President Trump and his allies will surely insist — it will not be Georgia’s stalwart secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, with the last word on who won. Nor will it be the Georgia Supreme Court, or even the U.S. Supreme Court. The “Judge of the election of … members” of the Senate, according to the Constitution, is the Senate itself. For the vast majority of elections to both the House and Senate, this quirk — let’s be more honest, this flaw — in our founding document does not pose a problem. Normally, with losers having conceded, the House and Senate dispense with a vote and permit the state-certified winners to take their seats. But little else has happened normally this year, and with control of the Senate in the balance and Mitch McConnell still in charge, we should not be surprised if another challenge to our democracy is ahead. McConnell did try to protect the Electoral College count from objections, but he did so less on principle than to avoid politically difficult votes for his caucus. At least for the election between Ossoff and David Perdue, the closer of the two on Tuesday, there are certain to be GOP claims asserting Perdue’s victory. McConnell will be tempted to call for the Senate to investigate before seating a winner — which would mean depriving himself of the gavel.

Full Article: What if the Senate won’t seat Georgia’s winners? – The Fulcrum

Georgia: Trump attorney ends four lawsuits challenging election | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

President Donald Trump has ended his court challenges to try to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in Georgia. An attorney for Trump filed notice in court Thursday that he is voluntarily dismissing four lawsuits making unsubstantiated allegations about ineligible voters, election equipment problems and fraud. No judges in Georgia have ruled in Trump’s favor. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a defendant in the lawsuits, said Trump gave up on his false claims. “Rather than presenting their evidence and witnesses to a court and to cross-examination under oath, the Trump campaign wisely decided the smartest course was to dismiss their frivolous cases,” Raffensperger said. The court dismissals came after Congress accepted electoral votes Wednesday showing that Trump had lost the election. Raffensperger had sent a letter to Georgia’s members of Congress with a point-by-point rebuttal of Trump’s allegations about voting machines, ballot counting, signature verification and illegal voters.

Full Article: President Trump and GOP voters have dismissed four Georgia lawsuits

Georgia elections chief counters false claims in letter to Congress | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger delivered an exhaustive rebuttal of false election claims to Congress, telling the state’s skeptical representatives that the presidential vote count was investigated and found to be accurate. His 10-page letter, sent Wednesday as Congress was debating electoral votes, countered a collection of unsubstantiated allegations about voting machines, ballot counting, signature verification and ineligible voters. “My job is to make sure that both sides know that the results are accurate,” wrote Raffensperger, a Republican. “We do not have to like the results of an election to accept them.” Congress accepted Georgia’s 16 electoral votes after U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican from Greensboro, challenged them Wednesday evening. He was joined by Georgia Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Allen, Buddy Carter and Marjorie Taylor Greene. U.S. Reps. Andrew Clyde and Barry Loudermilk also said they would object. Hice said there had been an “unprecedented amount of fraud and irregularities” during the general election. But Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler withdrew her plan to support the challenge to Georgia’s votes, and without the required support from at least one senator, Vice President Mike Pence rejected Hice’s petition.

Full Article: Raffensperger defends Georgia election results in Congress letter

Georgia: Fulton County delays counting final ballots due to security concerns | Ben Brasch/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fulton County’s adjudication process – and also a final tally of votes – has been postponed due to safety concerns, Fulton spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt said Wednesday afternoon. “We have a strong basis for concern based on security threats over recent weeks as well as awareness that there are people, including the President himself, who have singled out Fulton County as a cause for the outcome of the Presidential election,” Corbitt said. Among the concerns is a call in which Trump tried to convince Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the statewide election results. Fulton — home to a tenth of all Georgians — was mentioned by name 16 times during the Saturday call. County officials have rebuked the insinuations. Corbitt said Fulton has received bomb threats and “endless comments” on social media alleging they committed fraud – which has been disproven.

Full Article: Georgia Senate runoff: Fulton County delays counting final ballots due to security concerns

Georgia: Militia members gather outside the Capitol as pro-Trump rioters storm Washington DC | Gustaf Kilander/The Independent

Militia members gathered around the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, as Pro-Trump rioters in DC attempted to take matters into their own hands and prevent Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college win by storming the US Capitol. Capitol Police escorted Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger and his staff out of the building, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Supporters of Donald Trump attempted to enter the building to deliver “written grievances” about Mr Trump’s November loss. Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said: “We heard reports of threats and left immediately.” Mr Fuchs told ABC News that the people gathering at the parking deck at the Capitol were members of a militia.

Full Article: Militia members gather outside the Georgia Capitol as pro-Trump rioters storm Washington DC | The Independent

Georgia: The biggest threat to the runoff election may be Trump | Tonya Riley/The Washington Post

As election officials, voting vendors and social media companies prepare for today’s runoff election in Georgia, the biggest concern percolating isn’t foreign interference – it’s President Trump. This last race of a turbulent cycle – which will decide which party takes the Senate majority – is their final test to ensure voters can cast ballots securely and have confidence in the election results. That task, even after the 2020 presidential election was deemed by government and election officials to be the most secure in history, is complicated as Trump and his allies continue to peddle debunked fraud claims and pressure Georgia officials to recalculate the presidential vote in his favor. Georgia election officials say Trump’s voter fraud claims have shaken voter confidence. Their task is now to reassure voters. “Everybody’s vote is going to count. Everybody’s vote did count,” Georgia’s voting system manager Gabriel Sterling said. More than 3 million voters have already cast their ballots, setting a record turnout for a runoff in the state. Trump’s claims, which persist after Georgia certified Joe Biden’s win last month after three counts of ballots, are “all easily, provably false,” Sterling said at the news conference. “Yet the president persists and by doing so undermines Georgians’ faith in the electoral system, especially Republican Georgians.”

Full Article: The Cybersecurity 202: The biggest threat to the Georgia runoff may be Trump – The Washington Post

A Georgia election official debunked Trump’s claims of voter fraud, point by point | Maggie Astor/The New York Times

In a searing news conference on Monday, Gabriel Sterling, a top election official in Georgia, systematically debunked President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud. Again. “The reason I’m having to stand here today is because there are people in positions of authority and respect who have said their votes didn’t count, and it’s not true,” said Mr. Sterling, a Republican who last month condemned the president’s failure to denounce threats against election officials, and who was tasked on Monday with responding to the news of a phone call in which Mr. Trump pressured Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes to change the outcome of the presidential race. “It’s anti-disinformation Monday,” Mr. Sterling said. “It’s whack-a-mole again, it’s Groundhog Day again, and I’m going to talk about things that I’ve talked about repeatedly for two months. I’m going to do it again one last time. I hope.”

Full Article: How Gabriel Sterling Debunked Trump’s Georgia Fraud Claims, Point by Point – The New York Times

Georgia Officials see few security issues as voters go to the polls | Maggie Miller/The Hill

Officials at the federal and state levels said that as of Tuesday afternoon, they were seeing few security concerns related to the hotly contested Georgia Senate runoff elections, as voters continued to make their ways to the polls. Concerns around both physical and cyber election security had ramped up in the weeks prior to the election, which will decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate and has come under intense nationwide scrutiny. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that polling stations were experiencing few delays and that there was a wait time averaging around one minute at most jurisdictions. “After wait times averaging just 2 minutes on November 3rd, Georgia’s election administration is hitting a new milestone for effectiveness and efficiency,” Raffensperger said. “I have always said that after every election, half the people will be happy and half will be disappointed, but everyone should be confident in the reliability of the results.” Raffensperger acknowledged that there were technical issues at some polling sites in Columbia County, Ga. earlier on Tuesday, with paper ballot scanners and poll worker cards programmed incorrectly. His office emphasized that voting was not delayed during this time, and that emergency ballots were provided for voters. Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager for Georgia, confirmed this, tweeting Tuesday that the issues in Columbia County involved “a programming error on security keys for some locations scanners & pollworker cards. “Voting continues on backup emergency ballots. Newly programmed keys&cards are being taken to locations via law enforcement,” he added.

Full Article: Officials see few security issues as voters go to the polls in Georgia | TheHill

Georgia Officials Rebutted Trump’s Claim That Dominion Voting Machines Had Failed | Glenn Thrush/The New York Times

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger shot down President Trump’s suggestion Tuesday that a voting machine snafu in a conservative county near Augusta had compromised Republican votes in the Senate runoff elections. “Reports are coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, citing a report of glitches first reported by Representative Rick Allen, a Republican who represents the polling places in question. “Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them,” added Mr. Trump. Mr. Raffensperger shot back in his midday status report, saying that “a small number” of keys used to start voting machines had not been programmed properly and “a few” cards used by poll workers to activate touch-screen machines also had programming issues. All of the issues “were resolved by 10 a.m.,” he wrote. “At no point did voting stop as voters continued casting ballots on emergency ballots, in accordance with the procedures set out by Georgia law.” On Saturday, Mr. Trump called Mr. Raffensperger and said, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” according to a recording of the call made by the secretary’s staff.

Full Article: Georgia Officials Rebutted Trump’s Claim That Dominion Voting Machines Had Failed – The New York Times

Georgia: Trump call to secretary of state electrifies voters in Senate runoffs | Sam Levine/The Guardian

An explosive recording of Donald Trump pressuring Georgia election officials to overturn the election results is further electrifying voters in Georgia’s elections for two US Senate seats, in Tuesday’s runoff that will determine which party controls Congress’ upper chamber. In the call, made public by the Washington Post on Sunday, Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780 votes”, to overturn Trump’s loss there. When Raffensperger refused, Trump suggested he and his aides may be committing a criminal offense. At an event on Monday, the Rev Raphael Warnock, the Democratic nominee for one of the seats, used the phone call to motivate supporters. He suggested there would be legal battles and challenges if the race was close. “We need to win by a comfortable margin. Because, you know, funny things go on,” he said at a drive in event at a high school in Riverdale, about 20 minutes south of Atlanta. Warnock spoke to about 100 supporters at the drive-thru, who danced to Motown hits in warm weather and honked voraciously throughout his speech. Warnock also noted that Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, had also called Raffensperger to pressure him over the election. “They both said essentially the same thing. Can’t you find 11,000 votes? They wouldn’t be saying that unless there was some history. If you listen, what they were saying was ‘don’t you know how we roll?’’ he said.

Full Article: Trump call to Georgia secretary of state electrifies voters in Senate runoffs | US news | The Guardian

Georgia polling places face threats on election day | David Wickert/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Polling places in Cherokee County and elsewhere in Georgia are on guard against election day threats. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that it learned of a threatening email that went to several county employees “regarding threats to polling locations on election day.” Employees at several other counties received the same email. The sheriff’s office did not elaborate on the threats and said the source of the emails has not been identified. The FBI and the GBI are investigating, and the sheriff’s office said officers from various departments will be stationed at all 40 Cherokee County polling places. The threats come as Georgia has become the center of the American political universe — Tuesday’s runoff election will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. The races pit Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue against Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively. On the eve of the race, both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden visited Georgia to encourage their supporters to vote in the Senate race. Gabriel Sterling, who has served as the secretary of state’s voting system manager, said he’s aware of a number of potential threats on election day, and law enforcement authorities have been notified. “We encourage everybody to please turn out, be safe, be smart and don’t let anybody get in the way of you casting your vote,” Sterling said. “We are aware of some (threats), but we’re trying to not discuss in too much detail about that while we’re trying to investigate and find out what the actual nature of those threats might be.”

Full Article: Georgia polling places face threats on election day

Georgia finishes re-check of absentee ballot signatures – No election fraud found | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Law enforcement and election investigators didn’t find a single fraudulent absentee ballot during an audit of over 15,000 voter signatures, according to a report by the Georgia secretary of state’s office released Tuesday. The audit contradicted allegations that absentee ballots were rife with fraud after President Donald Trump said the election had been stolen, said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump lost to Joe Biden by about 12,000 votes in Georgia. There were 10 absentee ballots that had been accepted but voter signatures didn’t match or signatures were missing, according to the report. But agents from the GBI and investigators with the secretary of state’s office contacted those voters and confirmed they had submitted those ballots. In one case, a voter’s wife signed her husband’s ballot envelope. Another voter signed the front of the envelope instead of the back. Eight voters had mismatched signatures, but the voters told investigators the signatures were legitimate. Raffensperger, a Republican said the audit results confirmed the election outcome again after two recounts— both by hand and machine — of all 5 million ballots cast in Georgia’s presidential election. “The secretary of state’s office has always been focused on calling balls and strikes in elections, and in this case, three strikes against the voter claims and they’re out,” Raffensperger said. “This audit disproves the only credible allegations the Trump campaign had against the strength of Georgia’s signature match process.”

Full Article: Georgia finishes re-check of absentee ballot signatures – No election fraud found

Georgia’s Raffensperger should investigate Trump over phone call, state elections board member says | Teo Armus/The Washington Post

The only Democrat on Georgia’s state election board on Sunday called on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to investigate possible civil and criminal violations committed by President Trump during a phone call over the weekend in which the president pressured Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn his defeat. David J. Worley, an Atlanta lawyer, said a transcript of the hour-long call, a recording of which was obtained by The Washington Post, amounted to “probable cause” to believe that Trump had violated Georgia election code. “It’s a crime to solicit election fraud, and asking the secretary to change the votes is a textbook definition of election fraud,” he said in an interview with The Post on Sunday. In his letter to Raffensperger, Worley said that “such an incident, splashed as it is across every local and national news outlet, cannot be ignored or brushed aside.” Worley cited Georgia state code § 21-2-604, which makes it a crime to solicit someone else to commit election fraud. Such a violation can be punished by up to three years in prison.

Full Article: Georgia’s Raffensperger should investigate Trump over phone call, state elections board member says – The Washington Post

Georgia: Judge rolls back order on runoff voter challenges | Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney/Politico

A federal judge has agreed to allow a Georgia county to require that certain voters cast provisional ballots, just days before two runoff elections in the state that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. More than 4,000 voters faced eligibility challenges ahead of the Jan. 5 runoffs based on unverified postal change-of-address records. The new injunction from U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, issued just before midnight on Wednesday, replaces an earlier restraining order she had issued that prevented Muscogee County from forcing those voters to cast provisional ballots at all. The latest order represents a significant move in the direction the county board urged during a court hearing earlier Wednesday. Although the county may now require provisional ballots from those voters, Gardner’s order directs that no challenges to their eligibility be upheld based exclusively on data in the National Change of Address Registry, a U.S. Postal Service database that Democrats have worried is an unreliable and unverified indicator of whether individuals have changed their legal residence. “The challenge to their eligibility will not be sustained absent specific evidence of ineligibility,” ordered Gardner, who sits in Albany, Ga. “Such specific evidence shall not include the appearance of a voter’s name or other information on the NCOA registry” Her order also requires Muscogee County to notify any voters for whom it finds such evidence of ineligibility and give them a chance to present evidence to count their ballot by Jan. 8. The order came in a suit brought by Majority Forward, a Democratic nonprofit, affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, that focuses on voter registration.

Full Article: Judge rolls back order on Georgia runoff voter challenges – POLITICO

Georgia can expect election disputes after Senate runoff election | Mark Niesse and Greg Bluestein/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s extraordinarily thin partisan divide set the stage for rampant misinformation, lawsuits and fights over election integrity after the presidential election. With control of the Senate on the line Jan. 5, elections officials are bracing for a new round of drama — especially if the races are as close as polls, analysts and the campaigns suggest they will be. President Donald Trump has warred with state leaders and elections officials for weeks following his narrow defeat here, even though flipping Georgia wouldn’t be enough to reverse Joe Biden’s White House victory. Imagine, though, an equally tight margin in the twin runoffs, which have attracted unprecedented spending and attention with the fate of Biden’s legislative agenda at stake. Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system manager, is preparing for such a drawn-out scenario. “Even if there’s a blowout election, I think we’ll have people saying: ‘Well, obviously it was stolen. We have close elections in this state,’ ” Sterling said. “So no matter what direction you go, that’s going to happen.” He’s not alone. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed more than a dozen state officials, voting rights experts and party leaders who are quietly gearing up for a tortured election aftermath even while the U.S. Senate runoff campaigns are in full swing. Their message: Brace yourselves, Georgia voters. These races might not be settled for weeks.

Full Article: Georgia can expect election disputes after Senate runoff election

Georgia secretary of state wants to limit voting by absentee ballot | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday asked Georgia state representatives to end no-excuse absentee voting, a proposal that would limit the voting method over 1.3 million people used in the presidential election. Raffensperger wants to reduce absentee voting after promoting it during the coronavirus pandemic, when he mailed ballot applications to active registered voters before the primary election. In last month’s election, about one-quarter of Georgia’s 5 million voters cast absentee ballots as Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump. “It makes no sense when we have three weeks of in-person early voting available. It opens the door to potential illegal voting,” Raffensperger told the House Governmental Affairs Committee. “From a logistical challenge, it’s a tremendous burden on our counties” that run elections. Absentee voting became politicized after Trump frequently suggested it wasn’t trustworthy, causing Republicans to move toward voting early or on Election Day. About 34% of Biden voters submitted absentee ballots, compared with 18% of Trump voters. Georgia law has allowed anyone to cast an absentee ballot without having to give a reason since 2005.

Full Article: Georgia secretary of state wants to limit voting by absentee ballot

Georgia: GOP activist’s voter challenges raise questions | Bill Barrow/Associated Press

When a conservative organization announced plans this month to launch an election integrity operation in Georgia, the group’s news release included a high-profile name: the chairman of the state’s Republican Party. Less than a week later, the same group announced plans to challenge the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of Georgia voters. To Democrats in the state and voting rights advocates, it was verification of what they have long argued — that the Georgia GOP is supporting efforts to suppress voting in one of the nation’s newest political battlegrounds. It also raised questions about the legality of any coordination between the state party and the group True the Vote, charges the organization’s founder disputes. A relatively obscure conservative group, True the Vote is among the numerous political organizations descending on Georgia ahead of a pair of high-stakes Senate run-offs on Jan. 5. The outcome of the contests will determine which party controls the Senate as President-elect Joe Biden launches his administration. On Dec. 14, True the Vote announced it was launching an “election integrity” campaign in Georgia as “partners with (the) Georgia GOP to ensure transparent, secure ballot effort” for the Senate runoffs. The release featured a quote attributed to Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer: “The resources of True the Vote will help us organize and implement the most comprehensive ballot security initiative in Georgia history.”

Full Article: GOP activist’s voter challenges raise questions in Georgia

Georgia Senate Runoff Targeted by Misinformation ‘Superspreaders’ | Sheera Frenkel and Davey Alba/The New York Times

Two weeks ago, the conservative media personalities Diamond and Silk falsely claimed on their Facebook page that people who were not eligible to vote were receiving ballots in Georgia’s special elections next month. Their post was shared more than 300 times. A week later, the right-wing commentator Mark Levin shared a post on his Facebook page falsely suggesting that the Rev. Raphael Warnock, one of the two Democrats running in the Georgia Senate runoffs, once welcomed Fidel Castro to his church. The misleading claim was shared more than 3,000 times. At the same time, a drumbeat of misinformation about the presidential election count in Georgia droned on. Lara Trump, President Trump’s daughter-in-law, and the Hodgetwins, a bodybuilding duo who have turned to pro-Trump political comedy, shared several false stories on their Instagram and Facebook pages that claimed suitcases filled with ballots were pulled out from under tables during the November vote count. Tens of thousands of people shared their posts. As Georgia prepares to hold special elections that will determine which party will control the U.S. Senate, the state has become the focus of a misinformation campaign that is aimed at discrediting the results of the November elections and convincing voters that Democrats are trying to steal the upcoming vote. A small group of “superspreaders” is responsible for the vast majority of that misinformation, according to new research by Avaaz, a global human rights group. Not only are those accounts responsible for most of the misinformation swirling around the vote, they are drowning out accurate reporting by mainstream media outlets on Facebook and Instagram.

Full Article: Georgia Senate Runoff Targeted by Misinformation ‘Superspreaders’ – The New York Times

Georgia: Eligibility of 364,000 voters challenged before Senate runoff by Texas-based True the Vote | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Texas-based organization is working with Georgia Republican Party members to challenge the eligibility of over 364,000 Georgia voters who might have moved, an attempt to disqualify their ballots in the U.S. Senate runoffs. The effort questions voters’ residency and leaves decisions over whose ballots should count to county election boards. The election watchdog group True the Vote targeted voters whose names showed up on U.S. Postal Service lists showing their addresses had changed. The organization enlisted Republicans in dozens of counties to file voter challenges with their local election boards. The effort has gained traction in at least two counties, Forsyth and Muscogee, questioning the eligibility of over 9,000 voters who will be forced to use provisional ballots if they show up at the polls. Election boards in many other counties have rejected similar objections to voters, including in Athens-Clarke, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. Requiring voters to use provisional ballots would prevent their ballots from being counted until election officials verify residency. The burden of proof is on the challenger, but voters might be asked to provide information that shows their votes are valid. Voting rights groups say True the Vote is trying to disenfranchise voters, using inexact and unverified change-of-address lists to cancel ballots in a major election that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. It’s “one of the oldest tricks in the voter suppression playbook,” said Sean Young, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. He called it an example of “voter caging,” the practice of using mail lists to seek large cancellations of registrations. “It’s unsurprising that political operatives would pull this out in the middle of a contentious election,” Young said. “There’s no shortage of conspiracy theories in this election. Mass voter challenges attempt to make those conspiracies real and disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters in the process.”

Full Article: Texas-based True the Vote contests residency of 364K Georgia voters

Georgia: Government report warns of potential violence and foreign interference during Senate runoffs | Crystal Hill/Yahoo News

With the Georgia Senate runoff races just two weeks away, the Department of Homeland Security is warning of the possibility of “ideologically motivated violence” and even a foreign influence campaign as voters prepare to go to the polls, according to a new internal report obtained by Yahoo News. The Dec. 22 report, marked for official use only, says Georgia faces a “potentially heightened physical threat environment” that could drive violence or threats of violence similar to those seen nationwide during the 2020 presidential and state election season. Incidents of violence in or near the state capitol in Atlanta, courts and other “symbolic political institutions” could also negatively affect elected officials or election workers in Georgia, the report says. “We further judge that violent extremists or other actors could quickly mobilize to violence or generate violent disruptions of otherwise lawful protests in response to a range of issues,” the report says, including possible disputes over the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election. The agency based its judgments on a review of national and local media coverage, relevant social media postings, state law enforcement officials detailing “ideologically motivated violence or threats of violence” and its other election violence assessments made over the past six months.

DHS Georgia Warning

Full Article: Government report warns of potential violence and foreign interference during Georgia Senate runoffs

Georgia: Appeals court rejects absentee ballot signature lawsuit | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a Republican Party effort to reject more absentee ballots in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs by changing how election officials verify voters’ signatures. A three-judge panel ruled unanimously Sunday against the lawsuit brought by the political campaigns of Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as the Georgia Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. It’s the latest in a series of court decisions rebuffing challenges to Georgia’s election rules and procedures following President Donald Trump’s 12,000-vote loss to Joe Biden. Loeffler and Perdue face Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in runoffs Jan. 5 that will determine control of the U.S. Senate. The court found that it would be “contrary to state law” to order the secretary of state and State Election Board to conduct a different signature matching process. Elections in Georgia are run at the county level. “Since the secretary and the election board do not conduct the signature matching process, are not the election officials that review the voter’s signature, and do not control whether the signature matching process can be observed, the campaigns’ alleged injury is not traceable to the secretary,” wrote Judges Charles Wilson, Beverly Martin and Robert Luck.

Full Article: 11th Circuit denies appeal over Georgia absentee ballot signatures