Campaign check: Warnock criticizes Loeffler over Ga. ballot battles
The statement:
“It’s clear that politicians are trying to pick their voters, instead of the voters picking them. And Sen. @Kloeffler has condoned it.” -Rev. Raphael Warnock, Twitter, Nov. 19
What we found:
On Nov. 16, Democratic Senate candidate the Rev. Raphael Warnock tweeted a story from the Washington Post. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said fellow Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), were pressuring him to throw out some legally-cast ballots from the general election, the news report said.
Warnock then asked his opponent, Republican senator Kelly Loeffler, to join him in condemning “threats to a fair election and defending Georgians’ right to vote.” She did not respond.
The Nov. 3 presidential election has been a source of division within the Republican party, especially in Georgia, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported. After President Donald Trump narrowly lost to former vice president Joe Biden in the state, he sharply criticized the state’s voting system, claiming that the election suffered from widespread fraud.
Trump’s questioning led to a statewide audit and hand recount of all ballots, followed by another recount requested by the president’s reelection campaign. In Georgia, candidates may request a recount if the final voting margin is less than 0.5 percent, the AJC reported.
Loeffler has strongly supported Trump in his campaign to prove that the election was swayed by voter fraud, but there is no evidence that she asked Raffensperger to disqualify any Georgia voters’ legally-cast ballots. Nor does Warnock directly accuse her.
On Nov. 22, Loeffler tweeted, “I fully support President @realDonaldTrump’s request for a recount in Georgia. We must match and verify absentee ballot signatures to their corresponding voter registration signatures, investigate all voting irregularities, and count only the votes that were legally cast.”
During Sunday’s debate between Loeffler and Warnock at the Atlanta Press Club, she refused multiple times to answer whether Trump had lost the 2020 election, including in Georgia, the AJC reported.
The Trump administration has filed multiple lawsuits alleging voter fraud in Georgia and around the country, many of them already dismissed. Despite a lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud, many GOP politicians have supported Trump’s efforts, including Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue, who together called for Raffensperger’s resignation, the AJC reported.
In his interview with The Washington Post, Raffensperger said he was “stunned that Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally cast ballots.” Graham called that characterization “ridiculous.”
On Monday, the Secretary of State’s office said it would certify the latest recount. “We have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and the results remain unchanged,” Raffensperger said.
Late last month, Georgia officials announced an investigation into voter registration groups alleged to have sent applications to people in other states ahead of the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff election, the AJC reported. GBI is helping with the effort, which involves more than 250 claims. State elections officials have said the results will not impact the outcome of the presidential race won by Joe Biden.
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About the Author
Henri Hollis is a restaurant critic and food reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covers Atlanta’s restaurants, chefs and dining culture. As part of the AJC’s Food & Dining team, he reviews new restaurants, reports on industry trends and explores metro Atlanta’s culinary scene through the neighborhoods and people that shape it.
