The Georgia secretary of state’s office told voters Monday not to believe President Trump’s claims of election fraud and suppress their own votes ahead of the Senate runoffs on Tuesday.
Gabe Sterling, a spokesperson for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, told reporters early turnout suggests some voters may not be showing in some congressional districts due to the president’s allegations that the November election was stolen.
Some Trump allies have argued voters shouldn’t vote in the Jan. 5 runoffs as a form of protest against the state’s 2020 presidential results. The election Tuesday will determine which party controls the upper chamber.
Mr. Sterling disputed the president’s fraud claims and wanted to “beg and encourage” voters to go and cast ballots during Monday’s press conference.
“Do not self-suppress your own vote,” Mr. Sterling said.
Mr. Raffensperger echoed that concern in an interview with Fox News.
“He is suppressing Republican turnout,” Mr. Raffensperger said of the president.
Mr. Sterling noted he is unaware if their office has requested either the Fulton County district attorney or the state’s attorney general to probe a phone call made by the president to Mr. Raffensperger over the weekend in which Mr. Trump said Republicans needed to “find” votes to flip the state election results, which were in favor of President-elect Joseph R. Biden.
Though Mr. Raffensperger is a Republican, the president has accused him of being a Never-Trumper.
Mr. Sterling said the phone call was “not normal” and was recorded “knowing the history of the president.”
He added Mr. Trump might have also recorded the call and released it to the press.
But Mr. Raffensperger told Fox News he had to correct the record once Mr. Trump started tweeting about their phone call, suggesting he was aware the audio would be released.
He also said the president’s campaign has claimed thousands of dead people voted in November when there were only two found to have done so.
“It’s really about getting the facts out,” he told Fox News.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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