Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is accepting the results of the election despite being a supporter of President Donald Trump.
“As I’ve said before, I’m a proud Trump supporter. I was with him early in the 2016 election cycle and he’s governed the nation by the same conservative principles that I hold dear,” Raffensperger said during a press conference Friday.
He added, “Like other Republicans, I’m disappointed our candidate didn’t win Georgia’s electoral votes.”
Raffensperger claimed, “Close elections sow distrust.”
He argued voters feel their side was “cheated,” and it was evident with Democrats in 2018 and Republicans during this election cycle.
“Working as an engineer throughout my life, I live by the motto that numbers don’t lie. As secretary of state, I believe that the numbers that we have presented today are correct,” Raffensperger said.
Watch his comments below:
GA Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger confirms Biden has won Georgia: "I'm a passionate conservative, and as I've said before, I'm a proud Trump supporter … Like other Republicans, I'm disappointed our candidate didn't win Georgia's electoral votes."
— The Recount (@therecount) November 20, 2020
"Numbers don't lie." pic.twitter.com/eoakDegn1L
On Thursday, Raffensperger announced President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia after a hand audit of ballots, as IJR previously reported.
“The audit has aligned very close to what we had in election night reporting. It’s so close, it’s not a thimble full of difference,” Raffensperger said.
To verify there was no hacking or tampering with election machines, he ordered an audit of them, as IJR previously reported.
Raffensperger released a statement Tuesday titled, “No sign of foul play.”
“Pro V&V found no evidence of machines being tampered,” he said. “We are glad, but not surprised that the audit of the state’s voting machines was an unqualified success.”
He added, “Election security has been a top priority since day one of my administration. We have partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, the Georgia Cyber Center, Georgia Tech security, and wide range of other election security experts around the state and country so Georgia can be confident that their vote is safe and secure.”
According to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll, 68% of Republicans feared the election was “rigged.” At the same time, only 16% of Democrats and one-third of independents expressed the same concern. The number of Republicans who believe Trump “rightfully won” came to 52%. Twenty nine percent agree Biden won.
