Conservative political group True the Vote announced plans on Friday to pre-empt more than 360,000 election challenges in Georgia ahead of the state’s special election in January.
The second elections in Georgia have received national attention. If the running Democrats – Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock – win over Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Democrats would be equally represented in the US Senate. However, Democrats would have a clear advantage over Republicans in the event of a tie, as Kamala Harris, the Democrat’s elected vice president, would be the one to vote to break the deadlock.
Some observers, including President Donald Trump, have argued unfounded that the Georgian processes during the November election were unfairly manipulated by Democrats. True the Vote founder and President Catherine Engelbrecht said the challenges could help validate the results of the January election by ensuring “the sanctity of any legal vote.”
“The preemptive submission of the challenges before opening the ballots in absence will ensure that only legal, eligible votes are counted in the January 5 elections in Georgia,” Engelbrecht said in a statement Friday.
Georgian law allows individuals to challenge the validity of any voter in a Georgian province if there is probable reason that the person being challenged does not meet the requirements to legally vote. True the Vote plans to file 364,541 election challenges in all of Georgia’s 159 counties.
“We hope that this historic challenge marks the beginning of the great awakening of US voters to serve our democracy by getting involved in the process,” Engelbrecht said.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has defended the validity of his state’s elections. The results of the November presidential election were counted 3 times, with each count finding President-elect Joe Biden as the winner.
“I know there are people who believe that the election was fraught with trouble,” Raffensperger said at a December briefing, “but the evidence, the factual evidence, the facts tell us a different story.”
Newsweek contacted Raffensperger’s office for comment.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty
Trump underscored the importance of the senate race in Georgia and campaigned on behalf of Loeffler and Perdue in December.
“We need to re-elect Kelly and David,” Trump said at the event in Valdosta, Georgia. “We can’t let it happen to two of the greatest and most respected people in Washington.”
Loeffler has described Warnock, her opponent in the Senate race, as a “radical.” During a Wednesday appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, Loeffler claimed that Warnock was a supporter of Marxist philosophies.
“If we don’t vote,” Loeffler said, “we could see the election of America’s first Marxist senator in the country, right here in Georgia.”
Warnock has dismissed Loeffler’s allegations, telling CNN in November that he “cannot be distracted by Kelly Loeffler.”
Ossoff, who is expected to take on the incumbent Perdue in January’s election, has not run for public office before. Perdue has declined to debate Ossoff in the weeks leading up to the run-off. Ossoff came to a scheduled debate in December that Perdue did not attend.
“Your senator refuses to answer questions and argue with his opponent because he thinks he shouldn’t,” Ossoff said, sharing the stage with an empty lectern. He believes this Senate seat is his. This Senate seat belongs to the people. ‘