A Nov. 10 letter signed by Georgia’s Republican Congressional Delegation is urging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to investigate unfounded “voting irregularities” in last week’s election.
Sent at the behest of the Georgia Republican Party and President Donald Trump, who continues to maintain that Joe Biden and the Democrats stole the election, the letter repeats unsubstantiated claims that deceased and ineligible voters cast ballots, registered voters were denied the opportunity to vote, and Republican poll watchers were denied access at precincts.
Social media had field day with the letter, where Georgia was misspelled as George. The letter was trending on Twitter, where users expressed concern and amusement about the competency of the GOP delegation representing the state.
The Trump administration has tapped Doug Collins, who conceded to Kelly Loeffler in last week’s U.S. Senate election, to lead the vote recount in Georgia. Collins also sent a letter on Tuesday repeating, without evidence, many of the same voter fraud allegations and demanding an immediate recount – even before election results are finalized.
Raffensperger said there is likely to be a recount since the losing candidate has a right to request one, but the recount would not take place until he certifies the election results on or before Nov. 20.
The duel letters come on the heels of a Nov. 9 letter penned by Republican Senators David Perdue and Loeffler demanding that Raffensperger resign after “failing to deliver honest and transparent elections.” Raffensperger, a Republican and Trump supporter, called their request “laughable” and advised them to focus on their runoff campaigns.
Meanwhile, Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston released a joint statement rejecting some state Republicans’ call for a special session to change voting rules before the Jan. 5 runoff for two U.S. Senate seats. That contest – between Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff and Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock – could shift the chamber’s power to the Democrats.
Republicans want to strengthen voting rules to make it harder for new residents to vote in the runoff. The call was likely influenced by influential former Democratic presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang announcing he was moving to Georgia to help Ossoff and Warnock win the runoff.
Biden continues to lead Trump in Georgia’s vote count by 12,651 as of Tuesday evening.
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