Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger visited Springfield and Statesboro Tuesday to personally congratulate retired Bulloch County Electoral Board Director Pat Jones and met with the county electoral boards to review the implementation of new laws, specifically Senate Act 202, the new Georgia Electoral Act.
Before that, however, he met with media representatives and asked questions about a controversial year for him and his office.
Takeover of the Fultonton electoral committee
A provision embedded in SB 202 enables the State Election Board to intervene and replace underperformance county electoral bodies.
However, there are plenty of hoops to jump through before that can happen. To remove and replace a superintendent, the performance review panel would need to determine that the superintendent violated Georgia electoral law three times in the last two general elections or “demonstrated negligence, misdemeanor, or gross negligence in conducting the elections.” for at least two elections over a two-year period, “says the bill.
“Nobody wants to take over a district electoral committee. But when you have a situation that lasts 25 years, at some point people say that enough is enough, ”said Raffensperger. “The rest of the state is frustrated. So did the residents of Fulton County. You want the results. You want them to be accurate. You want them on time. “
Raffensperger stated that a takeover was a “non-partisan” and “methodical” process and “probably would not happen before 2022”.
“And that would be something that the state election committee might consider doing an investigation – a thorough investigation, non-partisan, non-partisan, you want to make sure that you do this with a methodical process,” Raffensperger said. “If you really look at the structure of SB 202. I think that will be found. It supports a very methodical, careful and measured reaction. “
More:Does Georgia’s new electoral law allow Republicans to overturn election results? No.
Trump’s lasting impression
After former President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 Georgian presidential election, Raffensperger, along with Governor Brian Kemp, became the target of criticism from members of their own party.
Two weeks ago, Raffensperger was reprimanded for “neglect of duty” at the Jekyll Island Republican State Party Conference, mainly over complaints about the widespread use of postal votes during the 2020 election. He said he plans to “move forward” and “be more certain of the results.” Elections”.
“These ballots were counted three times. And all three results gave practically the same result. And that was that Vice President Biden carried the state of Georgia in 2020, “Raffensperger said.
More:In Trump’s shadow, gas. Kemp draws boos from GOP believers
Death threats
But lately he’s been dealing with more dire threats than a GOP detonation. On Friday, Raffensperger spoke of the months of death threats, including one that read “You and your family are being killed very slowly.”
His wife Tricia spoke to Reuters last week about the death threats. This prompted the couple to take a break of several months from visiting their grandchildren.
Raffensperger said he and his family discussed the death threats and they did not stop him from running for re-election. On Monday, he said both parties should hold their own voters accountable for their actions.
“Our politicians need this personal integrity to hold their side accountable and to clean up your backyard. We have to clean up our garden. And then we can talk together about what we need to have honest elections, they are safe, they are safe, ”said Raffensperger. “And we understand that elections will be controversial, they are political situations and they always happen. But there has to be a certain standard of behavior that we expect from everyone. “
More:Trump-inspired death threats terrorize election workers
Machines of power
Another common thread of many conspiracy theories inside and outside Georgia is the Dominion Voting System, a new line of machines introduced in early 2020. Even after several recounts, there are still some who believe that the Dominion machines were dysfunctional and were able to swap votes in favor of President Biden.
On Monday, Raffensperger said the recounts and audits that followed the November 3rd elections would have been “practically meaningless” on the old system, which had no functioning audit trail on paper but only a digital one.
“Well, let’s do a count. Boom, you push the button, the computer will give you the same answer. Questions were answered with this ballot. It proved that the machines were above all precise, ”said Raffensperger. “But the machines haven’t turned any voices either. As soon as you looked at the human readable text and it said that you voted for Trump, you knew it was correct. “
More:This is how Georgia’s new voting machines work
Forensic audits
Raffensperger also referred to the concept of a “forensic review” of the November 3 results in Georgia. It is the latest outcry from Republicans believing Trump’s “big lie”, spurred in part by an external review of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona that is still ongoing.
In Fulton County, a judge has approved the unsealing of postal ballot papers to allow further examination of the November 3 results from Georgia’s most populous county, although the process is currently on hold.
The audits can’t get Trump into office, the time for that is long gone, but Raffensperger said he was open to the idea of a third-party audit.
“I don’t think it’s going to show anything. We have already done a forensic review of the machines so the accuracy of the machines has been certified. We did a 100% hand count of the fibers of the paper if it can help at the end of the day.” to restore voter confidence. I don’t think the results will change. “
“Sometimes people say, ‘Why are you so open to this idea?’ Because I understand that voter confidence is very important, “said Raffensperger.” Shots are being made from both sides of the aisle and we want people to be confident that their vote counts when they go to the polls.
More:Could forensic examination of the November 3rd election results in Georgia change the outcome? No
Will Peebles is the corporate reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.
