AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
- Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said the state’s election was conducted with integrity despite baseless accusations of fraud from President Donald Trump, which Trump has been repeating since he lost to Joe Biden, who is now president-elect.
- “By all accounts, Georgia had a wildly successful and smooth election,” Raffensperger, a Republican wrote in an op-ed published in USA Today.
- Trump has directly criticized Raffensperger in fits of pique about the outcome of the election, which saw the president lose Georgia, the first time the state chose a Democratic candidate for the first time in nearly 30 years.
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Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said that while his family supported President Donald Trump in this year’s election, he embraced nonpartisanship while he worked to ensure the integrity of the election in his state.
“By all accounts, Georgia had a wildly successful and smooth election,” Raffensperger wrote in an op-ed published in USA Today.
The Republican secretary of state praised the efficiency with which Georgia administered its election processes, and praised the state for cutting back on long wait times.
A record 1.3 million voters sent their ballots by mail, and another 2.7 million voted in person. Raffensperger said for the one million voters who showed up in person to vote on Election Day, their wait time averaged just three minutes.
“This should be something for Georgians to celebrate, whether their favored presidential candidate won or lost,” Raffensperger wrote. “For those wondering, mine lost — my family voted for him, donated to him and are now being thrown under the bus by him.”
Since losing the election to Joe Biden, who is now president-elect, Trump has been critical of the entire electoral process.
His campaign's lawyers have filed lawsuits in swing states, including in Georgia, to dispute the results. Trump has made baseless and unsubstantiated claims of fraud and personally attacked Raffensperger, calling him a "so-called Republican" and falsely claiming, without evidence, that there were "tens of thousands of fraudulent and illegal votes," in Georgia which is not true.
Trump's campaign also requested a recount in Georgia, even after the election results showed President-elect Joe Biden won.
Despite the General Services Administration officially authorizing government resources to be distributed to Biden's transition team, Trump is still keen on alleging fraud and casting doubt on the integrity of the election.
Raffensperger said he is focused on making sure Georgians understand that the election was free and fair.
"When I took office, I committed to running elections in Georgia with integrity. After any election, half of the voters will be happy and the other half will be disappointed. But I wanted to make sure everyone felt confident in the process and confident in the outcome," Raffensperger wrote.
He said both Republicans and Democrats have to work to uphold that integrity.
"In times of uncertainty, when the integrity of our political system is most at risk, the integrity of our politicians is paramount," he wrote.