Trump calls Georgia runoff ‘invalid’ as polls tighten, 3 million votes early



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With a record number of voters already voting early in Georgia, President Donald Trump attacked the Senate second-round election process in Peach State, calling it “illegal and invalid.”

Trump is scheduled to appear at a rally in Dalton on Monday to lend his support to GOP candidates Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who face Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively.

Tuesday’s second round will determine the balance of power in the US Senate, and both parties are spending hundreds of millions of dollars and deploying heavyweights to influence voters.

But on Friday night, Trump questioned the legitimacy of Georgia’s votes and criticized the bipartisan executive order passed in March that set standards for judging valid signatures on postal ballots.

Runoff demonstrator in Georgia
A protester holds up a sign on December 30, 2020 in Marietta, Georgia, ahead of the January 5 run-off election. The election will determine the balance of power in the US Senate.
Brandon Bell / Getty Images

Starting by taking a look at the “massive corruption” he claims to have taken place in the November general election, he tweeted that “it should be noted that state legislatures were in no way responsible for massive changes to the voting process, rules and regulations, many made in haste ahead of the election.

“Therefore, the entire state election is neither legal nor constitutional. In addition, Georgia’s consent decree is unconstitutional, and the 2020 state presidential election is therefore both illegal and invalid, and this would include the two current senatorial elections, ”he added.

The consent decree allows voters to correct ballots that are presumed not to match the signature election officials have on file. Trump argued that the consent decree was illegal because the decision did not involve state legislatures.

Trump also re-examined unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the battlefield state of Wisconsin, which went to President-elect Joe Biden in the thread that triggered a Twitter health warning that allegations of voter fraud are disputed. . Newsweek contacted Perdue and Loeffler for comment.

Trump’s claims come as figures reveal a record number of voters have already voted. According to Georgia Votes, 3,001,017 people had voted after the last day of the three-week in-person voting period.

That’s about 600,000 less than at the same time in the 2020 general election, but beats the record for a runoff in Georgia, ABC News reported. Of those who voted before Tuesday’s second round, 928,069 were absent by mail and 2,072,948 were from an early in-person vote.

Some 115,389 people who did not vote in the general election have already voted for the second round. Perdue’s lead over Ossoff in November was 88,098 votes.

The races are close according to pollsters. On January 1, polls suggested that Ossoff (48.5%) was ahead of Perdue (47.7%). Candidates have traded leads in recent weeks, with Perdue narrowly ahead on December 29, according to poll averages from RealClearPolitics.

Meanwhile, Warnock at 49.2% leads Loeffler, who is at 47.4%. The last time Loeffler was in front was December 21.

In addition to Trump’s appearance on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence will stop at Milner, while Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden will campaign with Warnock and Ossoff on Sunday in Savannah and Monday in Atlanta.



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