For the sixth and final part of The Right Take’s investigative deep dive into the 2020 election, Jacob and Eric look at the closest and most contentious swing state of the election cycle: Georgia. From the many ways Republicans like Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger caved to Democrats like Stacy Abrams to make voter fraud easier, to bizarre occurrences on Election Night such as “pipe bursts” and mysterious suitcases of ballots hidden underneath tables at polling stations, there is no shortage of suspicious activity that calls the results of the Peach State into doubt. Voter fraud in Georgia especially had serious ramifications for not only the presidential election, but the two concurrent U.S. Senate elections as well, which decided control of the upper chamber of Congress. Jacob and Eric then conclude by giving their verdicts on the state and the election as a whole.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Tipping the Georgia Scales before Election Day
05:50 Burst Pipe on Election Day
10:30 Technical Glitches and other Election Day Irregularities
16:31 Recounts and Litigation
20:23 Certification through the end of November
27:56 Hidden Ballots? The Curious Case of Ruby Freeman and her Daughter Shaye Moss
42:29 December lawsuits
56:35 Aftermath: Secretary of State Raffensperger gets selectively tough while facing a primary challenger
01:04:18 So, who really won Georgia and the Electoral College?
SHOWNOTES
How Georgia altered its election laws prior to 2020: https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/10/despite-state-gop-claims-to-the-contrary-georgia-is-ripe-for-election-fraud/
In 2016, 6.4% of ballots were rejected, vs. 0.4% in 2020: https://news.ballotpedia.org/2021/08/20/0-8-of-absentee-mail-in-ballots-rejected-in-2020/
The now-infamous “pipe burst” that allegedly halted counting in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pipe-bursts-atlanta-arena-causing-hour-delay-processing/story?id=73981348
…which turned out to be not-so-serious: https://twitter.com/johnbasham/status/1327026787398856705
Fulton County (Atlanta) election officials stopped counting ballots at about 10:30 PM: https://theweek.com/speedreads/947662/georgias-most-populous-county-stopped-counting-ballots-1030-pm
Georgia GOP Chairman David Shafer’s statements on the “pipe burst:” https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/slow-leak-text-messages-cast-doubt-on-georgia-officials-burst-pipe-excuse-for-pause-in-counting/news-story/19176f5113512210517c82debe684392
Machines crashed in Spalding and Morgan Counties, using same software that caused problems in Michigan: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/11/07/georgia-counties-using-same-software-as-michigan-counties-also-encounter-glitch/
Multiple ambiguous explanations for machine malfunctions: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/04/georgia-election-machine-glitch-434065
Georgia GOP and Trump campaign’s joint lawsuit against the Chatham County Board of Elections: https://thecurrentga.org/2020/11/04/trump-georgia-gop-sues-chatham-county-over-absentee-ballots/
…which was eventually dismissed by a judge: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/trump-election-georgia-lawsuit-voter-fraud-b1621163.html
Elections and Registrations Chief Richard Barron tries to explain incident of poll worker seen crumpling something up and throwing it away: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/state-farm-arena-ballot-video/85-14d18b5d-66a9-4267-a94d-8c05fc449773
Another computer malfunction in Gwinnett County: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/biden-takes-the-lead-in-georgia-live-updates/85-e86743c8-2a01-4aaa-bcdd-a9df74b44804
Votes in Fulton County had to be rescanned due to an “issue:” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8925451/Georgia-investigates-issue-involving-reporting-Trump-campaign-files-suit-Arizona.html
Richard Baris claims up to 132,000 votes in Fulton County were cast by people who changed their addresses: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/nov/11/viral-image/no-132000-georgia-ballots-werent-likely-ineligable/
Hand recount announced for the entire state: https://www.npr.org/2020/11/11/933830340/georgia-will-conduct-a-hand-recount-amid-gops-baseless-fraud-claims
Confirmed cases of dead people voting as far back as 2015: https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/42907201/dade-county-sheriffs-office-investigating-ballot-cast-using-name-of-man-who-died-in-2015
One such case was investigated, but no conclusion was made: https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2021/jan/23/dead-voter-dade-county/540234/
Over 2,600 votes in Republican-leaning Floyd County were left uncounted due to a failure to upload proper information into a ballot-scanning machine: https://nypost.com/2020/11/16/georgia-finds-2600-ballots-sec-of-state-says-gop-strong-arming-him/
Floyd County chief clerk fired over this: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8972003/Georgia-FIRES-Floyd-Countys-head-elections-voting-officials-2-600-uncounted-ballots.html
Lin Wood’s lawsuit thrown out by district court: https://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/politics/judge-halts-move-by-trump-backed-attorney-to-block-election-results-in-georgia/article_94ef533e-8116-51bf-a268-18957c6de896.html
Details of Wood’s lawsuit: https://sharylattkisson.com/2020/12/what-youve-been-asking-for-a-fairly-complete-list-of-some-of-the-most-significant-claims-of-2020-election-miscounts-errors-or-fraud/
18 affidavits in Wood’s lawsuit from witnesses alleging fraud: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/12/03/trump-lawsuits-challenging-election-michigan-arizona-pennsylvania-georgia/6425725002/
Wood made an appeal on November 26: https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/georgia-trump-supporters-fight-on-in-court/DSH3RTFDLVF4DLRLO2VDKWWSKM/
First Georgia recount reduced Biden’s lead to just over 12,000: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/19/politics/georgia-recount-election-results/index.html
Trump campaign asked for a second recount: https://reporternewspapers.net/2020/11/22/trump-asks-for-recount-in-georgia-attorney-alleges-gov-kemp-is-part-of-voter-fraud-conspiracy/
Four Republican state senators called for a special session to address election issues before January runoff elections: https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/georgia-senators-call-for-special-session-to-address-voting-issues/TK5JZGQLTFDIHAGDVSSNVE6JYU/
Sidney Powell filed her own lawsuit: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/proof-georgia-election-fraud-case-441701
In response to Powell’s lawsuit, a judge ordered a freeze on voting machines being used in three counties: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/judge-freezes-voting-machines-georgia-counties-441342
The Thomas More Society’s Amistad Project filed a lawsuit contending that more than 200,000 ballots in Georgia were improperly counted: https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/lawsuit-alleges-thousands-of-illegal-votes-were-counted-in-georgia
Georgia Senate committee hearing on allegations of fraud: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/georgia-state-senate-election-hearings/85-8dee5864-c6ad-4a02-87e3-cdc63567ea68
The infamous CCTV video of suitcases of ballots being wheeled out from under tables in Atlanta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-7E-71Av0k
Attempts to explain CCTV video: https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/12/04/fact-checking-rudy-giulianis-grandiose-georgia-election-fraud-claim
Election workers initially left for the night, but were ordered to return and keep counting: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-georgia-media-social-media-e9a73462e39e7aa39683f0f582a6659e
County and state elections officials arrived at the polling station in question to oversee the remainder of the count: https://www.thecentersquare.com/georgia/georgia-election-officials-address-trump-teams-claims-regarding-surveillance-video/article_723bfd96-364f-11eb-b309-97d598f7c336.html
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger enlisted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into over 250 allegations of fraud: https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/gbi-to-aid-georgia-voting-fraud-investigations/JX77G2JGEFFK3F3MZGTKT6VUDQ/
Trump campaign lawsuit challenged over 100,000 ballots in Georgia: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/4/trump-campaign-challenges-over-100000-votes-in-georgia
Overseas military ballots allegedly separated based on candidate: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/29/fact-check-georgia-military-overseas-ballots-not-evidence-fraud/7450430002/
Sidney Powell’s “Kraken” lawsuit defeated: https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/2020/12/07/georgia-election-fraud-lawsuit-dismissed-presidential-election-results-certification/3859738001/
Additional recounts and various legal efforts further reduced Biden’s margin from 12,000 to 11,000: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-4eeea3b24f10de886bcdeab6c26b680a
State House Governmental Affairs Committee heard testimony from witnesses of voter fraud: https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/12/10/at-georgia-house-hearing-republicans-baseless-claims-of-voting-fraud-persist
Signature audit held in Cobb County, led by the GBI: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/532042-georgia-signature-audit-finds-no-fraud-in-presidential-election
Expert witness and certified public accountant Bryan Geels testified that over 300,000 voters requested ballots before the legal date to do so: https://www.register-herald.com/cnhi_network/georgia-rips-trumps-voter-fraud-claims-in-court/article_1be29048-4259-11eb-b8c3-afdd8487fd7c.html
Watchdog group Voter GA sued Fulton County for access to information about faulty ballots: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/07/15/tucker_carlson_votes_were_doublecounted_in_georgia_hundreds_of_ballots_were_improperly_duplicated.html
Center Square’s report on over 1,700 Georgians who voted twice but didn’t have their votes cancelled out: https://www.thecentersquare.com/georgia/with-u-s-senate-runoffs-near-georgias-not-prosecuting-its-unprecedented-number-of-double-voters/article_99fdbab8-3e2e-11eb-94ab-27604dbb585e.html
Attempted refutations of claims of voter fraud by state officials: https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/elections/fraud-claims-debunked/85-d0b5b303-3312-4f43-a6ba-43a3d7bdcaa7
Nonpartisan report found a “myriad” of problems with Fulton County’s absentee ballot processing: https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/02/17/report-shows-no-fraud-many-problems-fulton-voting-process
In March, the state election board referred 35 cases of fraud for prosecution: https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/elections/state_election_board_refers_voter_fraud_cases_for_prosecution
New election integrity law did away with signature match issues and mandated voter ID: https://www.wbtw.com/news/sec-of-state-200-cases-of-voter-fraud-in-georgia-but-nothing-widespread/
In July, it was revealed that thousands of Georgians voted in the wrong counties: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/voter-analyst-claims-thousands-georgians-voted-wrong-county/N6LQWGPDOZAJFN34H7BGTPONEU/
Raffensperger called for the firing of multiple Fulton County election officials: https://www.cbs46.com/news/ga-sec-of-state-calls-for-removal-of-fulton-county-election-leaders/article_3d02bf72-e584-11eb-b1de-57fcf78eae2d.html
In August, Georgia State Election Board ordered a panel to investigate past elections in Fulton: https://www.wsj.com/articles/georgia-election-board-orders-review-of-fulton-county-elections-11629303957
In October, a judge dismissed another election fraud lawsuit by Georgia voters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-dismisses-georgia-lawsuit-alleging-fraud-2020-election-2021-10-13/
…but the judge failed to address the actual election fraud claims, instead claiming the plaintiffs couldn’t prove “personal injury:” https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2021/06/22/what-ive-learned-garland-favorito-election-integrity-activist/
Almost 200 votes in Fulton were double-counted before recount: https://www.ajc.com/politics/some-ballots-initially-double-counted-in-fulton-before-recount/GY4FTEEI6REIJN3SDKIDNIOYV4/
Raffensperger admitted to instances of fraud in Fulton: https://www.wbtw.com/news/sec-of-state-200-cases-of-voter-fraud-in-georgia-but-nothing-widespread/
Two Fulton County election officials fired for shredding registration forms: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/us/fulton-county-election-workers-fired.html
Comprehensive article from The Federalist on Georgia voter fraud: https://thefederalist.com/2021/07/09/new-evidence-indicates-enough-illegal-votes-in-georgia-to-tip-2020-results/
Tucker Carlson’s monologue on substantial voter fraud in Georgia: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2021/07/15/tucker_carlson_votes_were_doublecounted_in_georgia_hundreds_of_ballots_were_improperly_duplicated.html
The infamous Time Magazine article boasting of the broad, shadowy conspiracy to “save” the 2020 election, alleging that they were not rigging the election, but “fortifying” it: https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
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