Tag: Brad Raffensperger

New Georgia Bill Would Limit Secretary of State’s Ability to Enter into Consent Agreements

Chris Butler

Georgia legislators filed a bill this week that, among other things, would limit the ability of the State Election Board and the secretary of state to enter into certain consent agreements. “The State Election Board, the members thereof, the Secretary of State, and any of their attorneys or staff shall not have any authority to enter into any consent agreement with any other person that limits, alters, or interprets any provision of this chapter without obtaining the approval of the General Assembly through a joint resolution,” according to the language of the bill.

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Organization Sen. Rafael Warnock Was CEO of in 2019 Under Investigation for Possible Voter Fraud

Peter D'Abrosca

A newly-elected U.S. Senator from Georgia is under investigation for his ties to a nonprofit that may have committed voter fraud, according to the state’s election officials. 

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is a respondent in a potential case against The New Georgia Project, which has been referred to prosecutors according to several reports. 

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Fifteen Secretaries of State Endorse Keep Nine Amendment

Jason M. Reynolds

A group of 15 secretaries of state this week issued their support for the “Keep Nine Amendment” recently introduced in Congress, marking the latest victory for the organization seeking to preserve the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Keep Nine Amendment said in a statement that the 15 sent the letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader of the House Kevin McCarthy.

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Georgia Attorney General’s Office Recommended Compromise Settlement Agreement with Stacey Abrams

Chris Butler

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he entered into the controversial Compromise Settlement Agreement and Release with Stacey Abrams because members of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office Chris Carr recommended he do so. In a letter dated January 6, Raffensperger told former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) that the agreement strengthened Georgia’s signature verification system.

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Georgia State Legislators Who Fought for Election Integrity Can’t Promise that Colleagues will Reform System

Chris Butler

Two Georgia state legislators who lost their chairmanships after they questioned the results of the last presidential election can’t say if their colleagues have enough willpower to fix the state’s alleged election integrity problems. State Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and State Sen. Burt Jones (R-Jackson) talked to The Georgia Star News Monday. Both men said they’ve noticed that some of the same state leaders who stifled their efforts to have a special session to address voter irregularities late last year have now proposed their own reforms.

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Senator Rand Paul, Likely Citing Georgia, Says Secretaries of State Violated Constitution in 2020 Election

Chris Butler

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) didn’t cite Georgia by name, but he said Sunday that officials in different states may have enabled voting irregularities to occur last year. And if that did happen then Paul said he wants to help repair the damage.

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U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde Describes How Georgia Must Prioritize Election Security

Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) said this week that election season is over in Georgia and government officials must now secure the integrity of how people vote. Clyde submitted a column to The Washington Examiner and said state-level officials, during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, are prioritizing the issue of voter integrity. He also seemed to criticize Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for how he managed last year’s elections.

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Georgia Secretary of State Classified Trump’s Private Call a ‘Threat’ During 60 Minutes Interview

Corinne Murdock

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called President Trump’s remarks a “threat” during a 60 Minutes interview aired Monday. The interview also included previous Voting System Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling, currently the Secretary of State’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

Raffensperger was referring to a secretly-recorded, leaked call in which the President questioned the merits of Georgia’s elections systems, voter fraud allegations, and election irregularities. At several points, Trump criticized Raffensperger for stating that there wasn’t any evidence of criminality within the 2020 general election. The President also likened Raffensperger’s unwillingness to assign credibility to election fraud claims with criminal activity.
Raffensperger was referring to a secretly-recorded, leaked call in which the President questioned the merits of Georgia’s elections systems, voter fraud allegations, and election irregularities. At several points, Trump criticized Raffensperger for stating that there wasn’t any evidence of criminality within the 2020 general election. The President also likened Raffensperger’s unwillingness to assign credibility to election fraud claims with criminal activity.

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GOP Incumbent Secures Close Win in Re-Election to Public Service Commission Runoff Race

Corinne Murdock

Republican incumbent Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr., narrowly secured re-election in the runoff race to represent District 4 in the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC). McDonald secured over 50 percent of the vote totals, while his Democratic opponent, Daniel Blackman, trailed McDonald by 1 point. 

The win marked McDonald’s fourth time being elected to the position. He has served GPSC for 16 years.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Bashes Republicans in CNN Interview, Intends to Certify Runoff Election for Democrats

Peter D'Abrosca

CNN found a new darling in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who bashed Republicans and President Donald J. Trump in an interview with the network Thursday.

“For two long months, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger endured, standing in the firing line of Trump’s baseless attacks,” CNN’s Amara Walker said in a television interview featuring Raffensperger.

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Twitter, Media Prepping Public for Georgia Election Uncertainty

Peter D'Abrosca

Twitter paired up with far-left news outlet Reuters Tuesday to prepare the public for a drawn-out runoff election process in Georgia.

“Why the winners in Georgia runoffs might not be known for days,” a Twitter “moment” said. 

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Georgia Voter: Spalding County Precinct Voting Machines Broken, No Paper Ballots Offered

Corinne Murdock

A Spalding County voter told The Georgia Star News early Tuesday that voting machines broke at a Griffin-area polling place, and instead of receiving paper ballots, workers sent the voters waiting in line away.

In an interview with The Star News, the voter stated that she’d arrived at her polling place at Union Baptist church early because she works several jobs and wanted to ensure she could cast her vote.

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Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger on the Defense as Trump Presses on Difficult Questions About Drop Boxes, Signature Matching in Leaked Call

Corinne Murdock
Donald Trump

A private call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was leaked by The Washington Post on Sunday afternoon. The call reportedly took place almost exactly a day prior to the time that the audio was leaked.

Others on the call included White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s attorneys Cleta Mitchell and Kurt Hilbert, Georgia’s Secretary of State General Counsel Ryan Germany, and Georgia’s Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs.

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Only Nine Georgia State Senators Signed Petition for Special Session

Corinne Murdock

Only 9 out of 35 Republican state senators signed a petition to call a special session determining Georgia’s 16 electors and addressing election fraud. In order for the petition to go through, at least 29 senators needed to sign onto it. 

The state senators who signed the petition were: Brandon Beach (R-GA-Alpharetta), Burt Jones (R-Jackson), Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming), William Ligon (R-Brunswick), Matt Brass (R-Newnan), Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla), Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), Bruce Thompson (R-White), and Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega).

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Major Flaws in Georgia Secretary of State’s ‘Audit’ of Absentee Ballot Signature Matching in Cobb County

Peter D'Abrosca

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is not responding to questions about major flaws in his office’s “audit” of Cobb County absentee ballot envelope signatures counted in the November 3 presidential election, the results of which were announced in a press release last week.

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Biden and Harris to Stump for Warnock, Ossoff in Georgia Ahead of Senate Runoffs

Corinne Murdock

Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will visit Georgia to support the Senate election runoff candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, next week.

Biden and Harris will arrive in the days preceding the runoff elections, according to a press release from their team. Harris will precede Biden by a day, showing up to Savannah on Sunday. Biden will arrive on Monday in Atlanta. 

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Georgia Senate Hearing on Election Integrity Concludes with Order for Fulton County to Turn Over All Absentee Ballots to Investigators

Corinne Murdock

Georgia State Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held another hearing on election fraud on Wednesday. Chairman William Ligon (R-GA-White Oak) oversaw the hearing.

Witnesses testified to multiple variants of election integrity issues, including the voting machines, voting systems, poll workers and adjudicators, and even the printed QR ballots themselves. A consistent message throughout the testimonies reflected a lack of helpfulness from the secretary of state’s office.

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Raffensperger Created ‘Serious Problems’ in Election, Dick Morris Tells NewsMax TV

Jason M. Reynolds

Dick Morris told Newsmax TV that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger created “serious problems” in the November election for several reasons.

Morris appeared on the Monday episode of “American Agenda,”according to a story by Newsmax.

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Georgia Secretary of State Calls for Legislative Reform of Absentee Voting in Georgia

The Center Square

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called on lawmakers Wednesday to propose legislation to revamp the state’s absentee ballot voting process.

During an election investigation hearing Wednesday, Raffensperger asked the House Governmental Affairs Committee to eliminate signature matching and no-excuse absentee voting.

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Fulton County Dismisses Election Whistleblowers from Working the Runoff Election Following Their Testimonies

Corinne Murdock

Fulton County election officials informed two whistleblowers that they were no longer eligible to work in the runoff election. Bridget Thorne and Susan Voyles each received a letter notifying them of their dismissal last week following their testimonies to the General Assembly.

Both women were dismissed suddenly and without notice, after having served without issue in previous elections for years.

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Raffensperger Condemns Fulton County’s Firing of Election Whistleblowers

Jason M. Reynolds

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Friday condemned the firing of poll managers and whistle blowers Suzi Voyles and Bridget Thorne by Fulton County elections officials.

Raffensperger also called on Fulton County to rehire them to work future elections.

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True the Vote Preemptively Challenges Over 364K Potentially Ineligible Voters Ahead of Runoff Election

Corinne Murdock

True the Vote, a nonpartisan voters’ rights and election integrity organization, submitted over 364,000 elector challenges for all 159 counties. Georgia law allows a voter to challenge the eligibility of other voters within the same county, so long as probable cause exists.

In a press release, True the Vote explained that the challenge preemptively prevents illegal votes, as opposed to a reactive challenge to ballots cast. They added that once a ballot is cast, it is near-impossible to match a ballot to its voter.

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Georgia State Legislator Received Absentee Ballot After Submitting Request Using Different Signature Than on Photo ID

Corinne Murdock

Georgia State Representative Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) received an absentee ballot after submitting an application using a different signature than on his photo ID. The representative submitted his application on November 28 to vote in the runoff election. He received a ballot without any issues on December 15.

Dolezal tweeted a comparison picture between the non-matching signatures on his photo ID and his absentee ballot application. 

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Georgia Secretary of State Launches Statewide Signature Match Audits

Corinne Murdock

Following a signature match audit for absentee ballots in Cobb County, Georgia will conduct a statewide audit. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced the decision on Monday. 

According to the secretary of state’s office, the audit will review “specific allegations” relating to inadequate signature matching on absentee ballot applications ahead of June’s primary elections. That audit will compare a sample of absentee ballot envelopes to signatures on file. 

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Georgia’s GOP Calls Out Secretary of State Raffensperger’s Failure to Update, Secure the Voter Registration List

Corinne Murdock

As of the first day of early voting for the runoff election, Georgians haven’t received an updated voter registration list.

The Republican Party of Georgia issued a press release posing seven questions about the list pertaining to the upcoming runoff election.

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Coffee County Submits Another Letter with Evidence Claiming Inconsistent Results Obtained from Dominion Machines

Corinne Murdock

Coffee County submitted a letter to the Georgia House Governmental Affairs Committee with evidence claiming that the Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) machines provided inconsistent results in their county. Like the rest of Georgia and 28 other states, the county used Dominion’s Democracy Suite 5.5.

The Georgia Star News was informed that the secretary of state’s office stands by the information issued in its press release last week stating that Coffee County workers likely double-scanned batches of ballots.

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Georgia State House Republicans Continue Push for Change Ahead of U.S. Senate January Runoff Elections

The Center Square

Republican Georgia lawmakers increased their push for election changes Friday ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections for U.S. Senate.

House Majority Leader Jon Burns (R-Newington) sent a second letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Friday asking him to respond to an initial letter calling for two specific changes to the election process.

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Georgia Secretary of State Backs Out of Testifying Before Georgia House Committee Hearing on Election Fraud Due to Legal Advice

Corinne Murdock

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger declined to testify before the Georgia House of Representatives about potential fraud in the 2020 general election on Thursday. The House Governmental Affairs Committee oversaw the hearing.

Many of the claims presented during the hearing resembled those offered during the State Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing last week. The secretary of state’s office reportedly declined to attend that hearing as well. 

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Garland Favorito, Who Alleged Vote Switching, Called to Speak Before Georgia House, Presented Abnormal Vote Spikes and Improper Vote Processing

Corinne Murdock

The Georgia House of Representatives held a hearing on Thursday to discuss claims of election fraud and voting irregularities. Career IT professional and nonpartisan voting integrity organization VOTERGA Co-Founder Garland Favorito testified before the House – he’d previously been called to testify before the Georgia Senate on his findings.

Favorito explained that he’d been challenging Georgia’s electronic voting systems since 2002 with the implementation of Diebold DRE system. For 17 years, Favorito alleged that the system was “not verifiable, auditable, and [not] recount capable,” and was ignored by the Secretary of State’s office and Georgia Supreme Court. Then, in 2019, Favorito explained that the U.S. District Court agreed that the Diebold systems were unconstitutional. That decision led to the Secretary of State’s office to purchase the Democracy Suite 5.5 BMD system from Dominion Voting Systems. 

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Georgia’s Coffee County Refuses to Certify Electronic Recount Results, Cites Irreconcilable Anomalies with Voting Machines

Corinne Murdock

Coffee County election officials refused to certify the electronic recount earlier this week, citing irreconcilable anomalies with the voting machine results in a letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

In the letter, the Coffee County Board of Elections and Registration stated that the electronic recount was unable to repeat duplicate, credible results. 

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Trump Campaign’s Georgia Lawsuit Goes Public, Alleges Nearly 453,000 Fraudulent Votes Cast

Corinne Murdock

The Trump campaign’s lawsuit in Georgia became public yesterday, alleging nearly 453,000 fraudulent votes were cast. 

The lawsuit claimed that thousands of voters and the named defendants broke Georgia’s Election Code. It quoted Georgia Supreme Court precedent indicating that plaintiffs only had to show enough irregular ballots to cast doubt on the election results – not how voters would’ve voted normally.

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Georgia State Legislators Reportedly Fearful of Backlash and Destruction in Atlanta If They Vote for a Special Session

Corinne Murdock

The Georgia legislature may not call a special session – but the decision wouldn’t be for a lack of doubt in election integrity.

In an interview with The Georgia Star News, State Representative Colton Moore (R-Trenton) shared that legislators are gun-shy about calling a special session to address the general and runoff elections.

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Republican Organizations File Lawsuit to Ensure Georgia Follows State Laws for January 5 Runoff Elections

Jason M. Reynolds

The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party filed a lawsuit to ensure Georgia election law is properly followed for the January 5 runoff election.

The lawsuit demands that poll watchers be allowed to do their jobs as permitted under Georgia law, and safeguards in the law for ballot “drop boxes” are upheld, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the Republican National Committee.

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Georgia GOP Senators Introduce Special Session Petition

Corinne Murdock

  Four Georgia lawmakers – State Senators Brandon Beach (R-Cherokee), Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming), William Ligon (R-Brunswick), and Burt Jones (R-Jackson) (pictured above, left to right) – bucked their leadership  Monday to launch a petition to force a special session of the Georgia General Assembly. They need 29 signatures to force…

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Georgia Secretary of State’s General Counsel Confirms During State Senate Hearing that Dominion Voting Machines Were Updated Before the Election

Corinne Murdock

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s General Counsel Ryan Germany confirmed during the Georgia State Senate hearing that the state’s voting machines received a system update before the election. Germany shared that the updates had occurred weeks prior to Election Day. 

Vice Chairman, Senator Marty Harbin (R-GA-Tyrone) asked Germany whether Dominion’s voting machines were updated.

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Georgia’s Incoming Congressional Members Send Letter Asking Raffensperger to Re-Verify Ballot Signatures

Corinne Murdock

Georgia’s incoming U.S. Congress members sent a letter asking Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to re-verify the absentee ballot signatures.

Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) tweeted the letter, calling on Raffensperger to do more to secure elections.

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Fulton County Quietly Rescanned More Than 12,000 Ballots Over ‘Unexplained Issues’

Corinne Murdock

Wednesday evening, Fulton County elections officials conducted a rescan of over 12,000 ballots due to “unexplained technical problems.”

Republican Party of Georgia Chairman David Shafer tweeted the news as soon as he was informed by one of the county’s Republican commissioners, Liz Hausmann.

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Organization Founded by Stacey Abrams and Previously Chaired by Warnock Under Investigation for Voter Fraud

Corinne Murdock

Georgia’s secretary of state’s office is investigating the New Georgia Project for voter fraud connected to registering dead or out-of-state voters. The organization was founded by Stacey Abrams and chaired previously by Senate Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock.

In a press conference on Monday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that his office had received substantiated evidence of the organization’s involvement in voter fraud. Raffensperger’s office confirmed their evidence included the organization soliciting registration for a dead individual, an ineligible voter, a multiple residents of other states.

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Gwinnett County Official Confirms Vote Data Was Uploaded to Laptop Via USB Drive – ‘It’s Protocol’

Corinne Murdock

A Gwinnett County, Georgia elections official confirmed that Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) representatives use USB drives to upload vote count data to laptops for external processing. The USB drives are also known as “memory sticks,” “thumb drives,” or “flash drives.” It is standard protocol for Dominion, as well as for most electronic voting systems.

The county official issued the statement in an emailed response to a viral video claiming that a Dominion representative manipulated vote data. In the film, a Dominion technician appears to load vote count data from county monitors onto a USB. Then, he proceeded to plug the USB into a separate laptop.

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Dominion Server Crashed in Fulton County, Delaying Recount Results

Corinne Murdock

On Sunday, the recount was delayed in Fulton County after a crash occurred in Dominion Voting System servers. The delay halted recount operations for several hours.

“Technicians from Dominion have been dispatched to resolve the issue,” stated Fulton County Officials. “The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has been alerted to the issue and is aware of efforts to resolve the problem.”

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Georgia Secretary of State Defends Election Systems, Says Office Investigating Third-Party Voter Registration Organizations

Corinne Murdock

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Voting Systems Manager Gabriel Sterling discussed the elections and lawsuits in a press conference on Monday. Both men asserted that the latest recount will confirm the election results, that the lawsuits made baseless claims, and that the upcoming runoff elections are their focus.

Raffensperger announced that the latest recount is scheduled to be completed by midnight on Wednesday. He added that his office will be releasing the recount results online.

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Georgia Secretary of State Says Trump Should Give Up and ‘Leave Quietly’

Corinne Murdock

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger stated that President Donald Trump should give up and “leave quietly” from the White House. The secretary of state made these comments in an interview with Atlanta Journal-Constitution published Saturday.

“When you lose an election, you should leave quietly. It’s the will of the people that has been expressed,” stated Raffensperger.

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Breakdown of Sidney Powell’s Lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan

Corinne Murdock

Attorney Sidney Powell delivered on her promise to file massive election fraud lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan. The Georgia lawsuit was the weightier of the two, totaling 104 pages, with the Michigan lawsuit reaching 75 pages. Both lawsuits and all evidence are included on Powell’s legal defense fund website.

Thanksgiving Eve was an action-packed day for Powell – she followed up the presidential pardoning of her client, General Michael Flynn, by filing both lawsuits just before midnight.

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Sidney Powell ‘Releases the Kraken’ in Georgia Lawsuit

Corinne Murdock

Attorney Sidney Powell filed her “Biblical” lawsuit on Wednesday in Georgia, making good on her promise to “release the Kraken.” The defendants were named as Governor Brian Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and State Election Board members David Worley, Rebecca Sullivan, Matthew Mashburn, and Anh Le. The lawsuit called into question around 146,600 votes at minimum.

The 104-page lawsuit claimed that Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) engaged in virtual ballot-stuffing through its electronic voting software. It bolstered its claim by alleging that the software design was created to manipulate the Venezuelan elections of Hugo Chavez, and was designed in a way to hide vote manipulations from any audits.

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Debbie Dooley Commentary: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger Ignores Georgia Law and Cowers to Stacey Abrams and Democrats

Georgia Star News Staff

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ignited a firestorm when he announced in March of this year that he was appeasing Stacey Abrams and Georgia Democrats by sending out absentee ballot requests to 6.9 million active registered Georgia voters during the Primary elections.   Georgia conservatives were outraged he was doing this because of the potential for rampant voter fraud involved with absentee ballots.  Voters over 65 could request general election ballots when they requested their primary ballot.

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Debbie Dooley Commentary: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger Ignores Georgia Law and Cowers to Stacey Abrams and Democrats

Georgia Star News Staff

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ignited a firestorm when he announced in March of this year that he was appeasing Stacey Abrams and Georgia Democrats by sending out absentee ballot requests to 6.9 million active registered Georgia voters during the Primary elections.   Georgia conservatives were outraged he was doing this because of the potential for rampant voter fraud involved with absentee ballots.  Voters over 65 could request general election ballots when they requested their primary ballot.

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State Election Board Votes to Extend Drop Box Use and Mandate Early Processing for Absentee Ballots for Runoff Senate Election

Corinne Murdock

The Georgia State Election Board voted to extend the absentee ballot voting rules on the use of drop boxes and early processing. Leading up to the January 5 general election runoff, voters may continue to deliver their absentee ballots at drop boxes and officials must begin processing ballots at minimum a week before Election Day.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger chaired Monday’s meeting. The board gathered to discuss three emergency rules set to expire prior to the runoff election, though they opted to only address the first two on their agenda.

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Georgia Begins Second Recount – No Audit of Absentee Ballot Signatures

Corinne Murdock

Georgia initiated its second recount Tuesday of the votes cast in the general election. During this recount, the votes will be processed electronically rather than hand-counted – but there will be no audit of absentee ballot signatures.

In a virtual press conference, Georgia Secretary of State Voting Systems Manager Gabriel Sterling asserted that their office would continue to “follow the law” for this recount. He explained that no state law exists requiring or outlining signature matching after initial confirmation upon receipt of the ballot. That, and workers separate ballots from their signed envelopes to protect ballot secrecy.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Silent on Demands He Audit Absentee Ballots

Chris Butler

Members of the State Executive Committee of the Georgia Republican Party have asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to order an immediate audit of the absentee ballots cast in the 2020 general election.

This audit, members of the Georgia GOP said in an open letter, must verify that signatures match.

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