Attorney L. Lin Wood, has filed a lawsuit claiming the process for handling Georgia’s
absentee ballots was changed without approval from the general assembly in such a way that problem ballots could be missed during what conservatives have begun to call the #fraudit.
The lawsuit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and others claims that the defendants "unilaterally, and without the approval or direction of the Georgia General Assembly, changed the process for handling absentee ballots" in the state. The complaint alleges the tabulation of absentee ballots in last week's election "is improper and must not be permitted."
Conservatives, including President Trump, have criticized Raffensperger’s arbitrary and capricious conduct of the hand recount, with the President Tweeting:
“The hand recount taking place in Georgia is a waste of time. They are not showing the matching signatures,” Trump tweeted. “Call off the recount until they allow the MATCH. Don’t let the Radical Left Dems STEAL THE ELECTION!”
In a follow-up tweet the President said:
“They wouldn’t let our Poll Watchers and Observers into the Counting Rooms. We win on that alone!”
The Georgia recount seems to be following a disturbing pattern seen in Pennsylvania, Michigan and other jurisdictions that have prohibited Trump observers close enough access to the process to permit them to register a complaint or flag a ballot for closer scrutiny.
The Hill reported Georgia’s Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are both facing runoff elections, called for Raffensperger to resign, accusing him of “failing to deliver an honest election.”
A spokesperson for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) said the vote "needs to be a wake up call to the Secretary of State's office to take a serious look at any and all voting irregularity allegations."
In an email to Tea Party Patriots, our friend Jenny Beth Martin said, “I’ve been in the trenches in the Georgia ‘Protect the Vote’ war room every day this past week, and let me just say this: I strongly believe there was voter fraud in Georgia to change the outcome of the election, but if we don’t get the recount and audit correct we may never know.”
In a statement released by Tea Party Patriots Action, Jenny Beth said:
“Secretary of State Raffensberger and the State Election Board owe it to Georgia’s voters to ensure that every legal vote is counted, and that any voter fraud is identified.
“Yesterday, Secretary Raffensberger said, ‘Every legal vote in Georgia will count.’ That’s a worthy goal. However, the process his office laid out today falls far short of that goal. In a letter sent to Secretary Raffensberger today, Georgia Recount Leader Doug Collins and Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer explained how Secretary Raffensberger’s directions fall short.
“First, the audit does not include a review of signatures on absentee ballot applications and ballot envelopes to confirm the legitimacy of votes cast. Currently, reviewing signatures is the only safeguard to verify an absentee voter’s identity under Georgia law. Consequently, the Secretary must include in the hand count and audit process a review of signatures on absentee ballot applications and envelopes in order to determine whether or not the counties properly executed the signature verification process.
“Second, the current process lacks meaningful access to the auditing process. Instead, the Secretary should allow designated monitors on a one-to-one ratio for every audit team, as well as for every vote review panel. Further, he should direct the counties to make certain that the designated monitors are able to confirm their ability to actually see the process as it occurs.
“Third, the Secretary’s direction to the counties to certify results by 5:00 P.M. tomorrow – while they are simultaneously conducting a recount and audit to verify the legal vote counts are correct – makes no sense. Instead, he should direct the counties to finish the recount and audit, then certify.
“Fourth, launching the recounts fewer than 24 hours after the directives were issued does not allow enough time for sufficient public notice of the existence, location, and times of the audits and hand counts. Instead, he should instruct counties to begin by Monday, so they have time to plan and execute the recount properly.
“Fifth, the security of the paper ballots is critically important. This is the first statewide hand recount in at least 18 years. We must be sure that ballots follow proper chains of custody, as required by state law.
“As it stands now, neither campaign will be satisfied with the current process.
“More importantly, Georgia voters will not have confidence in our electoral process without a transparent, open process that is done right and counts every legal vote.
“The eyes of the nation are on Georgia – when it comes to the presidential election and the upcoming Senate runoff races – and we need the Secretary of State and the State Election Board to respond with the appropriate transparency and urgency.”
Rep. Doug Collins (GA-9)—who’s leading the Trump Campaign’s recount effort in the state—and Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party David Shafer penned a letter to Raffensperger on Thursday, laying out their concerns, chief among them the lack of signature verification in the recounting process, and lack of “meaningful access to the auditing process.”
“Your office announced today that the state parties can designate only one reviewer for every 10 audit teams,” the Georgia Republicans wrote. “That makes it impossible for hand count decisions to be reviewed in real time. One designated monitor cannot observe ten tables at once. Transparency has been a very significant problem during this election.”
Collins and Shafer also expressed grave concern that counties were directed to certify their results by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, while the recount was still going on.
This is the level of Philadelphia-style observation the “audit” is providing to Trump observers, and to which Rep. Collins and Chairman Shafer objected, as you can see through the Twitter video here https://twitter.com/i/status/1327298145085218817
It is inexplicable why the Georgia Secretary of State has not allowed designated monitors on a one-to-one ratio for every audit team, as well as for every vote review panel and that he has refused to direct the counties to make certain that the designated monitors are able to confirm their ability to actually see the process as it occurs.
What we see going on in Georgia is not an audit of the conduct of the election, or even a hand-recount with the level of precision necessary to satisfy the concerns about the provenance and validity of the vast number of mail-in ballots that erased President Trump’s lead and apparently put Biden over the top in Georgia. Instead, what we are seeing is an effort to cover-up the errors and omissions in the Secretary of State’s office that led to the current mess.
CHQ Editor George Rasley served as a precinct election official and election security observer in numerous elections and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, including every Republican presidential campaign from 1976 to 2008. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for former Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retiring Rep. Mac Thornberry, former-Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
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