Georgia Republican Secretary of State rejects Republican senators’ call for resignation

by



[ad_1]

“Earlier today, Senators Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation,” Raffensperger, who is also a Republican, said in a statement. “Let me start by saying that this will not happen. The voters in Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the ones who fire me.”

“As Secretary of State, I will continue to fight every day to ensure a fair election in Georgia, that every legal vote counts and illegal votes do not count,” Raffensperger continued.

“I know emotions run high. Politics are involved in everything right now. If I were Senator Perdue, I would be irritated to be in a second round. And the senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our president. “

Earlier Monday afternoon, Loeffler and Perdue called for Raffensperger’s resignation in a joint statement that lamented the state’s electoral process without offering any specific evidence to back up their claims.

“Georgians are outraged, and rightly so. We have been clear from the start: every legal vote must be counted. All illegal votes must not. And there must be transparency and consistency in the counting process,” said the two men, echoing the president. Donald Trump’s false claims that illegal ballots shape the election.

Raffensperger, they argued, “has let the Georgian people down and he should resign immediately”.

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s press secretary Cody Hall also said in a statement that Raffensperger should “investigate all allegations of voting irregularities” but stopped before calling for his resignation.

“Georgians deserve every legal vote to be counted in order to have full confidence in the outcome of our elections,” Hall said.

On Monday night at Capitol Hill, Loeffler declined to answer reporters’ questions about Raffensperger’s statement.

CNN last week projected that a special election race between Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock would qualify for a runoff in January. And while CNN has not scheduled the Senate race between Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff to qualify for a runoff, the two candidates are already campaigning to face each other on Jan.5.
Perdue leads Ossoff by more than 88,000 votes, but did not receive more than 50% of the votes needed to avoid a second round.

“My job is to follow Georgian law and ensure that all legal votes, and no illegal votes, are counted correctly and accurately,” Raffensperger said concluding his statement.

“As Secretary of State, it is my duty, and I will continue to do my duty. As a Republican, I am concerned that Republicans keep the United States Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start to focus on that. “

This story was updated with additional developments on Monday.

CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link