Georgia Secretary of State Faces Challenges From All Sides
[guest post by Dana]
Georgia’s top election official announced that an investigation into voting irregularities is ongoing:
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly said there has been no evidence of systemic election irregularities or fraud, but he said during a news conference at the state Capitol that his office is investigating any credible claims of illegal voting and violations of state election law.
More than 250 cases have been opened and need to be fully investigated, but there has been nothing so far that jumps out as being likely to change the outcome of the election, Gabriel Sterling, a top official in Raffensperger’s office, said during the news conference.
The secretary of state singled out groups that he said are working to register ineligible people to vote ahead of a high-profile runoff election for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats. His office’s 23 investigators also continue to look into allegations of problems with absentee ballots, as well as claims of people who voted twice, people who cast a ballot in a dead person’s name and non-residents who voted in Georgia, he said.
But Raffensperger also punched back — as he has repeatedly in the weeks since the Nov. 3 general election — at allegations circulating online that the state’s election was marred by widespread fraud. President Donald Trump, who narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia, is among those criticizing the state’s handling of the election.
“There are those who are exploiting the emotions of many Trump supporters with fantastic claims, half-truths, misinformation and, frankly, they’re misleading the president as well, apparently,” Raffensperger said.
I think Raffensperger is being charitable to Trump here. Trump is obviously exploiting the situation as much as he can for his own gain. If that includes manipulating his followers and keeping them agitated over an allegedly unjust election outcome, he will keep playing that card. In turn, he gets the outcomes he hopes for: He remains dominant in the GOP, he persuades followers to contribute to his defense fund/PAC, and he reinforces that the swamp needs cleaning out as evidenced by the rigged election. In other words, the President exploiting the situation itself, and the emotions of Trump supporters continue to benefit him.
Raffensperger endorsed Trump in 2016, and in turn, the President endorsed him in 2018. But President Trump strained that support by attacking Raffensperger on Thanksgiving day as “an enemy of the people” because he certified the 2020 election in Georgia for President-elect Joe Biden.
Before the President’s Thanksgiving Day criticism, Raffensberger had already faced public criticism from the President, and took it in stride:
The night before, Trump had tweeted about him, accusing him of hiding tens of thousands of illegal votes and asking, “Why is he afraid of Stacey Abrams?”
Raffensperger hadn’t seen the tweet yet. “Did he at least spell my name right?” he laughed. “It’s ‘Raffensperger’ with a ‘p,’ not a ‘b.’ ”
Unfortunately, it was right after “Republican U.S. senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue — looking at Jan. 5 runoffs and not wanting to face the wrath of Trump — called for Raffensperger’s resignation for election “failures” that they did not detail” that the death threats to Raffensperger and his wife began. Only to be followed by a startling and despicable silence by Republican officials:
Raffensperger — his wife of 44 years, Tricia, by his side — discussed how he has approached his crucial role overseeing the election, his message for Trump, and what it’s been like to have nearly the entire GOP, goaded by the president, abandon him.
And he and his wife both described the faith and family that keep them going in the middle of accusations and lawsuits against him — and death threats against them both.
“We’re straightforward people, simple people,” Raffensperger said about himself and his wife, who met in their 11th-grade homeroom in Pennsylvania. “I love Tricia and she loves me. We love our kids. We love our grandkids. We’re quiet people in an unquiet role.”
…
“The very first one that we got was really a warning,” Tricia Raffensperger said. “Now it’s every sexual connotation. It’s horrific. Who am I for you to do that to? I’m just a regular person just like they are, and their wives and their daughters and their mothers. Would you say that to your mother?”
The latest round were sent from a dummy account meant to look like Raffensperger directly threatening his wife.
“It’s vulgar,” he said. “It’s disgusting.”
Even as he has had to have around-the-clock security and news of the attacks against him have been publicized, the response from the Republicans who aren’t attacking him has been silence.
Multiple requests for comment to Republican lawmakers who have supported him in the past were declined or not returned. “I’ll take a pass,” said one.
This is utterly disgusting. I don’t care what side of the aisle an individual is on. If they are doing the job before them that they have been elected to do, and do it with unbiased professionalism, that should be respected. And in this case, accepted. Criticism, even if unfounded and delusional, is one thing. But death threats should be loudly condemned by every elected official in the state. At the very least. Shame on the Republican lawmakers. And for the President of the United States to be leading the way by publicly attacking Raffesnperger because he arrogantly can’t believe that he didn’t win in Georgia is beyond the pale. He is, with obvious intention, goading his loyal base to pile on Raffensperger as well. Despicable behavior by the President, and despicable behavior by Americans. The President’s sycophants who are choosing to look the other way and pretend they don’t see what is happening is what we have come to expect of Trump-supporting lawmakers at large. All they care about is themselves. And frankly, if getting re-elected requires remaining in Trump’s good graces, they’ll kiss that damn ring any day of the week. They don’t deserve our respect and they don’t deserve our votes. Shame on them. Shame on the GOP. And shame on President Trump for being such an ugly bastard toward a man doing the job he was elected to do. And doing it honorably.
Raffensperger had this message for Trump:
“When you lose an election, you should leave quietly. It’s the will of the people that has been expressed,” Raffensperger said.
So true.
But perhaps it’s Tricia Raffensperger’s message that reassures us most that they will survive all of this. Because, despite the attacks from the most powerful man in the nation, the Raffenspergers have already experienced far, far worse:
…2018 also brought tragedy for the family, when the Raffenspergers’ oldest son died after years of struggling with addiction.
“I’ve been through the very worst thing that can possibly happen to anyone,” Tricia Raffensperger said. “When you lose a child, it doesn’t matter how that happened, how old they were, it’s indescribable.
“And they can throw all they want, they can call me all the names they want, they can do whatever they want. But they can never hurt me like that.”
–Dana
This really resonates with me.
Dana (6995e0) — 11/30/2020 @ 1:23 pmWhat dimension of chess is Hogan playing at with this?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maryland-gov-hogan-endorses-loeffler-and-perdue-in-high-stakes-georgia-runoffs
urbanleftbehind (793c4c) — 11/30/2020 @ 1:53 pmHuh. I have been told that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent. So what groups would these be and who are they trying to help?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:20 pmVirtually =/= completely.
The groups are America Votes, Vote Forward, The New Georgia Project, and Operation New Voter Registration Georgia (no website available). As to their ideological orientation, you may visit the links and draw your own conclusions.
I have provided you with these links despite strongly suspecting that your question was merely for effect — because I got this information from the linked article, which you clearly didn’t read (else you would have known the answer). Instead, I suspect that you are following the lead of your…well…Leader, and trying to preemptively cast doubt on the upcoming elections just in case they go in a way you don’t like. And I further suspect that if both Perdue and Loeffler are returned to their seats, you will happily let the matter drop.
What that says about your character, and your attitude toward truth, is also a subject I will leave open for conclusion-drawing.
Demosthenes (d7fc81) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:36 pmCurrently his investigators have uncovered…zero of those things. So the thing you acknowledge that you’ve been told, over and over again, is still true.
If you’re convinced by the Trumpista silliness, then that’s a you problem.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:36 pmThe reports in the post also linked to the groups.
Dana (6995e0) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:39 pmI think Raffensperger is being charitable to Trump here.
“If only Trump knew”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:41 pmIn reading the reports about Raffensperger and his faith and life, that he is charitable toward Trump is not surprising. Misguided and naive, perhaps. It makes Trump’s behavior all the fouler.
Dana (6995e0) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:44 pmBrad and Tricia Raffensperger are great Americans.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:52 pmIt looks two-dimensional to me, because I support the same thing, but maybe there appears to be more dimensions because Trump, by comparison, usually gnaws on the chess pieces.
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 11/30/2020 @ 2:59 pmNot that Loeffler or Perdue really deserve the job, or that the GOP deserves a majority, but I do want divided government, especially a Senate GOP majority so McConnell can provide a necessary check-and-balance on Biden and Pelosi, and put the brakes on Biden’s more progressive appointments and nominations.
I don’t like either one of them, but I agree that a divided government is best. Not just in this case. It will be interesting to see how Trump’s Georgia shenanigans impact the run-off.
Dana (6995e0) — 11/30/2020 @ 3:16 pm“When you lose an election, you should leave quietly. It’s the will of the people that has been expressed,” Raffensperger said.
If only Goldwater had heeded that advice, the hell of the 1980s could have been avoided. 😉
_____
W/Biden & Trump both off the ballot in a straight runoff, Georgia may likely stay Red. The Blue team looks pretty flimsy on close examination.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/30/2020 @ 3:45 pmI will deal with your bilge thusly:
First, the article is behind a paywall, so I cannot read it to determine who these groups are trying to help elect. However, from the quoted portion, since they aren’t linked outright up front with Republicans, then I’m guessing they are linked to Democrats.
Second, I can only hope you don’t read tea leaves for a living because your thoughts on my character are way off base.
I would suggest you ask further questions about people in the future if you want to know more about them rather than leaping to conclusions. Because it makes you look foolish.
Is the investigation ongoing, or is it complete? You seem to believe that voter fraud isn’t a big deal, but can happen. So should we wait for the investigation to be over?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 3:47 pmUnless you listen to all the folks like Donald Trump (Sr and Jr), Powell…MAGA!!!!
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 4:02 pmYou seem to believe that the Kris Kobach found widespread, or moderate, or any fraud…oops, or that there is, has been, will ever be evidence of the Trumpian idiocy that millions of votes were changed. I think that there is zero evidence because for decades there has been shown to be zero evidence, when the dems claimed it, when republican’s claim it, are all conspiracy delusions.
Now you can feel that a thing that you have zero proof of exists, but your feelings don’t affect facts, you have none of those.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 4:08 pmmr. the once-and-only-once president trump, who met mr. roy cohn in a bar even though he does not drink (if you know what i mean and i think you do), knows how to arouse his supporters
he arouses them with his fingers
he arouses them with his lips
he arouses them with his tongue
he arouses them with his breath
he arouses them with his e-e-imagination
he makes them see, there’s no else in the world but he
and they give it to him
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 4:13 pmIf you can find me citing Kobach, or parroting his claims, feel free to quote them.
You care to try to deign anything else I seem to believe?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:11 pmIt’s deplorable.
Purple Haze (c89a51) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:15 pmYour words exist…
So, please point to the EVIDENCE that says that the thing you’ve been told is wrong? Be specific
Evidence: noun, the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.
You can believe in any fantasy you want, but your FEELZ aren’t facts.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:19 pmYou seem desperate to impart sarcasm in my original post. I have seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud. I have also been told there is rarely any widespread voter fraud historically. But I also know Democrats scream bloody murder when Republicans enact or propose voter ID laws, even though you need an ID to take part in numerous vital economic, civic, and political activities.
So help me square the circle: why are Democrats against ensuring one person, one vote if they are not undertaking voter fraud?
In the meantime, I will wait to see if the Georgia officials find any evidence of fraud in two runoff elections that will have nationwide political ramifications for the next several years.
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:34 pm“You care to try to deign anything else I seem to believe?”
How many fraudulent votes do you think were cast? Ballpark is fine. Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:45 pm“But I also know Democrats scream bloody murder when Republicans enact or propose voter ID laws, even though you need an ID to take part in numerous vital economic, civic, and political activities.”
Because it’s always part of an effort to disenfranchise “undesirable” voters.
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:45 pmNone. Again, you Democrats seem mighty testy that Georgia officials are investigating possible voter fraud. Why?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:47 pmYou must be incensed that you have to show voter ID to collect government benefits. Another Republican ploy to ensure “undesirables” don’t receive benefits?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:47 pm“None. Again, you Democrats seem mighty testy that Georgia officials are investigating possible voter fraud. Why?”
I’ll address these 3:
People voting twice and people voting for a dead relative will not be widespread. There are isolated incidents of these every election. Non-residents voting will turn out to be military ballots, because that’s what it has been every time it’s been brought up this cycle.
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 5:53 pm#20
steveg (43b7a5) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:00 pmArguing with the Colonel Klink is like yelling at a mortally wounded skunk for stinking up the place
“You must be incensed that you have to show voter ID to collect government benefits. Another Republican ploy to ensure “undesirables” don’t receive benefits?”
Ignores my point. Every time voter ID is introduced, it’s followed with a round of DMV closures.
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:01 pmIncreased use of the internet to take the place of in-person DMV trips is probably a confounding variable.
I mean, it’s not like the advent of email had an affect on letter-writing. Right?
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:12 pm“Increased use of the internet to take the place of in-person DMV trips is probably a confounding variable.”
Just a coincidence that the closure tend to happen in minority heavy areas.
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:35 pmIgnores my point. Every time voter ID is introduced, it’s followed with a round of DMV closures.
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:01 pm
In my state, anyway, which is Illinois and we have a black Democrat Secretary of State for whom I vote all the time, that has been passive resistance to Real ID.
Not “closure” so’s you’d notice , just a pain in the podex. Limited hours, limited locations, onerous “residency requirements”, and a six-hour wait. “Yessir, Mr. President Bush, sir, we’ll take the federal money for Real ID, sir. but we’ll be asking for extensions from 2005 to 2021,and then more after that, you can count on us, sir.” It’s easier, a lot easier, to get a passport at the Post Office, but also a lot pricier.
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:35 pmCoincidence…or conspiracy!
But you can easily put it to bed by showing us your evidence.
Hoi Polloi (3bc019) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:45 pm@14. Unless you listen to all the folks like Donald Trump (Sr and Jr), Powell…MAGA!!!!
Only if:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze3p-WeLCGk
DCSCA (797bc0) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:55 pm@ Hoi Polloi:
Ooooo…bilge.
First, I find it interesting that I noticed no paywall.
Second, I expressed no thoughts about your character. You can see that if you…ahem…read my words. Which are not behind a paywall.
Demosthenes (d7fc81) — 11/30/2020 @ 6:56 pmBut I can tell you all of one easily provable case of voter fraud. Trump voted in Florida when his official residence is in Washington DC.
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:07 pmVaccines are rolling out.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:26 pmPresidents maintain their legal residence that they had before being elected. Bush voted in TX. Obama voted in IL. Trump in FL. This has been the standard for many many years, for as long as I’ve been voting and before. Vice-Presidents do also. Gosh even Pelosi maintains her CA residency even though she spends very little time in her state of disrepair.
Marci (405d43) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:33 pmGosh even Pelosi maintains her CA residency even though she spends very little time in her state of disrepair.
Sure, but that’s in the Constitution. Congresspersons must be residents of their states. But the White House is the President’s official residence by law.
I’m joking, Marci. Kind of, anyway. Mocking the “voter fraud” meme. I know what you wrote above is correct.
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:39 pmSo, in the case of Trump…New York. Florida, specifically Mar a Lago
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:51 pmSo nk is correct.
Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:52 pmIn reaction to Krebs’ segment on 60 Minutes last night, Trump attorney Joe DiGenova said that Krebs should be extra-judicially executed. Isn’t there a line of ethical conduct that DiGenova crossed?
Paul Montagu (5b5997) — 11/30/2020 @ 8:00 pmhttps://thebulwark.com/trump-lawyer-dhs-whistleblower-should-be-executed/
“Coincidence…or conspiracy!”
https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2016/12/feds_alabama_to_expand_drivers.html
Davethulhu (6e0d47) — 11/30/2020 @ 8:14 pmIsn’t there a line of ethical conduct that DiGenova crossed?
I doubt if he’d be disciplined as a lawyer in my state. But public death threats against a former counter-espionage chief, which is what Krebs was, is not a prudent thing under any circumstances, I should think.
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 8:24 pmI’m a “I don’t need ID, I know who I am” person, myself. It was a point of American exceptionalism when I was a kid that we did not have an ID requirement like other countries. But the bureaucracy, step by step and inch by inch, from Social Security cards to draft cards, had their fascist way, and 9/11 was a great leap forward.
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 8:37 pmWell at least one Democrat is saying there is reason to believe fraud. He correctly asserts that Trump is an incidental figure in this now, it isn’t about Trump, it’s about the validity of our elections going forward.
Marci (405d43) — 11/30/2020 @ 8:44 pmBlagojevich thinks there was extensive fraud
Is that the same Blagojevich who was on The Apprentice before he went to prison for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat as Governor of Illinois and whose sentence Trump commuted, Marci? Whose father-in-law, Richard Mell was my alderman and practically neighbor and whose family’s corrupt dealings the Northwest Side of Chicago has been witnessing for at least half a century? That Blagojevich?
nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 9:03 pmThank you, nk…best to leave it to a Nort Seiter…few better examples of pure garbage and to think a disparate coalition of Hispanic Daley Organization lackeys and remnant downstate Dems plus the vote splitting of blacks by Roland Burris denied Paul Vallas his shot in 02.
urbanleftbehind (793c4c) — 11/30/2020 @ 9:10 pmMeanwhile, I think there will be many Atlanta examples in the days leading up to Jamuary 5th…
https://thegrio.com/2020/11/30/dallas-restaurant-viral-twerking/
urbanleftbehind (793c4c) — 11/30/2020 @ 9:12 pmYup. Someone who knows what cheating and corruption looks like. I figured since common folks giving sworn testimony was being dismissed might as well go with a known cheat.
Marci (405d43) — 11/30/2020 @ 9:26 pmThis type of rhetoric is reprehensible. Calls for executing public servants using medieval torture techniques–being drawn and quartered, beheaded, shot–for the crime of doing their jobs and telling the truth about the election, are beneath contempt. That these threats of violence are directed against Republicans, who put country over party and followed process, by Republicans, who are actively echoing Trump’s insanity, either by their enablement and appeasement or their silence, means only that the party is tearing itself apart and further dividing the nation.
That indicates that our democracy has become a kakistocracy, rule by the worst amongst us.
Several commentators have argued that this vile rhetoric, claims of voter fraud, rigged election, and a malfunctioning electoral system, will suppress Republican turnout in the Georgia special election for two Senate seats. If the election is rigged, fraud is rampant, and voting machines are flipping ballots, why bother voting? Or so that’s the argument. I don’t know how much validity there is to it. What I do know is that the problem is not how much this reprehensible rhetoric will suppress Republican turnout, but how much it will increase Democratic turnout. Any patriotic Republican would reject a kakistocracy and acknowledge that this party, in its current form, must be repudiated.
The Gratuitously Obsequious (or Obscene) Party stands for nothing anymore, other than enthrallment to a mad president who imagines he’s a king. That’s pathetic.
I agree with Dana and prefer a divided government, but not with these inane clowns. If a Trumpublican were to put on make up and dress as a clown, he might as well model his costume after John Wayne Gacy’s. You know, the serial killer who pretended to be a cop, with a fake badge and everything, so he could pick up young teenage boys, then spend the night raping, torturing and murdering in most horrific fashion. 33 he buried in the crawl space under his house; when he ran out of space, he dumped 5 more in the river. 38 victims, and that’s just how many he confessed to. Like Ted Bundy, who only attacked women, 30+ he finally confessed do, but we really have no idea of how many victims there actually were.
Both were registered Republicans. That was their cover. Gacy actually got to take a picture with Nixon. Bundy was a law student. So as to make them above suspicion. Bundy’s strategy was very simple–knock out and kidnap a woman in one jurisdiction, rape, torture and murder her in another, then dump the body in yet another. He knew that then jurisdictions didn’t communicate, so that with three separate crime scenes-the kidnaping, the murder, the body dump–the authorities could not connect the dots. Hence, he was able to go on his vicious killing spree for over a decade.
I’m not suggesting that Republicans are serial killers. I am suggesting that several serial killers have used the Republican party, the party of “law and order,” as a distraction. How many registered Democrats are in fact serial killers? Not very many.
How many people have died in this pandemic? At last count there have been over 13 million confirmed infections, over 285,000 deaths, who knows how many hospitalizations, and that’s just a guess. We have no idea of what is going on, because we have not been given facts, only conspiracy theories.
It’s despicable, inexcusable. This Trumpublican Party must be completely repudiated. This reprehensible rhetoric must end. Otherwise, the America we grew up in will dissolve, and that outcome would be worst for all of us.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 12/1/2020 @ 12:16 am37. nk (1d9030) — 11/30/2020 @ 7:39 pm
For purrposes of voting a person’s residence is more his or her choice than anything else. One time, though, a candidate who lost was prosecuted by Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes for using the wrong address.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O%27Hara_(Brooklyn_politician)
Sammy Finkelman (bbf750) — 12/1/2020 @ 9:57 amIf he’s been convinced by evidence of extensive fraud, he can share the evidence. If he was convinced by his corrupt association with Trump, then he can’t share any evidence.
And guess how much evidence he shared.
Dustin (4237e0) — 12/1/2020 @ 10:05 amSomeone called up the Rush Limbaugh show and claimed there was fraud in the Oregon Governor’s election in 2010 and also in the state of Washington in 2004. Both with extra ballots.
None of this has anything to do with Dominion machines.
This is maybe what actually happens in Oregon: (This also in slightly different from, ran in the Washington Examiner)
https://oregoncatalyst.com/48383-oregon-shows-nation-vote-mail.htm
Now there maybe could also be a possibility of outright forgery, but this could be merely visiting people on the last day to collect ballots. None of this is a secret though, just obscure.
Sammy Finkelman (bbf750) — 12/1/2020 @ 12:12 pmIf this is the kind of “evidence” Ms. Powell is submitting, there’s going to be a problem for her, the ethical kind.
h/t Law & Crime
Paul Montagu (77c694) — 12/1/2020 @ 1:37 pmDidn’t she do something like that in the Michael Flynn case? Submit an altered document to the court, I mean.
I didn’t want to say that that was what probably happened when there was a discussion of the FBI supposedly altering a document. (and maybe instead of going back to the original they tried correcting what Sidney Powell said she had received from the FBI.)
Meanwhile you have people like the Majority Whip of the state Senate in Arizona repeating things like Dominion is a Canadian company and had something to with Smartmatic and talking like Dominion could fake results – like as if there is np series of co-ordinated records.
Sammy Finkelman (bbf750) — 12/1/2020 @ 7:45 pm