We’ve talked for weeks now about Republicans’ attacks on Georgia’s election integrity.
Looking now to the results of the Senate election that saw incumbent Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler lose, we see the effect some of that rhetoric had.
As the news of President Trump’s call with SoS Brad Raffensperger resonated across the country, both Biden and Trump headed to the Peach State last Monday for a final push to get voters to the polls in a contest that would decide Senate control.
After a smooth election day and fast vote counting, Georgia elected its first Black senator and first Jewish senator and flipped control of the chamber. Years of hard work+organizing+Stacey Abrams had finally led to a blue breakthrough.
But that was overshadowed. In the culmination of a months-long assault on election integrity and democracy fomented by President Trump, thousands of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol during the Electoral College vote counting, and several died.
Here's but a partial list of names of Georgia Republican lawmakers and officials that actively tried to undermine elections, from calling on the SOS to resign to backing extraordinary lawsuits seeking to invalidate 5 million votes.
Good morning from Bartow County, about an hour northwest of Atlanta!
The Jan. 5 runoffs aren't within a recount margin, but the elections director in the majority-Republican county is doing a full hand audit to boost voters' confidence in elections after misinfo+attacks. #gapol
The margins in this race aren't even close, but about a dozen teams will still examine 43,034 ballots as a way to both practice the post-election audit process *and* hopefully show people they can trust the voting machines+absentee ballots after Trump+others attacked it.
It's important to note this is not some ploy to delay certification! The audit should wrap up tomorrow, and the deadline for all 159 counties (that's a lot y'all!) is Friday. It's not likely the races get certified any faster (or slower) than normal.
Good morning from Day One of the 2021-2022 legislative session in Georgia!
It’s my third year covering the General Assembly and we’ve got some doozies on the horizon: voting laws, redistricting, a pandemic budget and more.#gapol
Buckle up!
Tune in to both chambers now on the General Assembly's shiny new website #gapol:
Now happening: a painfully slow but necessary reading of every single representative and Senator, certified as the winners of their elections, so they can get sworn in.
New - David Perdue concedes the race, which Jon @ossoff has won. Georgia's Senate races have flipped control of the chamber. #gapol
"...now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win."
Should note that a) doesn't mention Ossoff by name or if he called him to concede and b) he didn't win the general election... that's why there was a runoff!
"On the eve of getting the day in court they supposedly were begging for, President Trump and Chairman David Shafer’s legal team folded Thursday," a statement from @GaSecofState read.
Here's the letter accompanying the voluntary dismissal, falsely claiming a settlement had been reached (and noting the letter is confidential - also on a public court docket lol)
"The letter was not a settlement offer, as you characterize it, but simply a statement that my client was not able to sit down and discuss the issues raised by your clients while there was active litigation."
Standby for some Georgia election lawsuit news, including the rest of this fantastic letter posted on a public court docket!
NEW: The Trump campaign has voluntarily dismissed four lawsuits challenging November's elections in Georgia after falsely claiming it reached a settlement with the state to review election data. #gapol
"We are promptly voluntarily dismissing the following legal actions as per your request and consideration of the settlement," reads the letter from Kurt Hilbert, attorney for 4 election challenges.
But lawyers for the state say there was no settlement.
Working with @brettneely, @NPRnie and @benswasey nationally plus @josephinetheb@TheDrashman in Georgia, I quickly jumped to confirm the call, seek comment from all parties and tell you about this extraordinary news on the air and online.
The truth is, the only reason I got this story *everyone* read is because of years doing stories *nobody* read - like voting machine contract analysis, COVID cases in rural elex offices, hours of boring court hearings...