Raffensperger pushes back against election misinformation

(Georgia Recorder) — Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also a Republican candidate for governor, reassured voters Tuesday morning that despite “wild claims and accusations,” Georgia elections are transparent and that the office is “making sure that election integrity is upheld.”

“Votes in Georgia are received, inspected, counted and tabulated at the county level under the supervision of local election officials, under public observation. So, it’s a transparent process,” Raffensperger said at a press conference at the state Capitol.

He said he encourages “anyone, board members of any sort, county or state, if you’re concerned with the integrity of the election, you should visit one or several of the 149 county tabulation centers today, instead of trying to confuse voters.”

Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal, who is running for lieutenant governor, congressional candidate Chris Mora and Cobb County Commissioner Keli Gambrill on Monday filed an emergency motion against Raffenspergerseeking to give election observers and State Election Board representatives access to the secretary of state’s election night hub, known as the emergency operations center.

Raffensperger, who called Dolezal a “so-called election expert,” said that the state senator “fails to understand that the actual work of the election happens at the precinct level.” He added that the secretary of state’s job is to ensure that state election law is being followed on a local level where votes are tabulated. He also said there will be inspectors today reviewing 600 polling locations “to make sure that the procedures and the laws are being faithfully followed.”