Republican officials have targeted Georgia’s election integrity and claimed that there has been a lack of transparency in the process.
Georgia Sens. David Perdue (R) and Kelly Loeffler (R) blasted the state’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R)and accused him of “mismanagement and lack of transparency.”
As Republicans called into question the state’s election integrity, Raffensperger has ordered a hand recount of the state’s presidential election results. He also ordered an audit of election machines to ensure there was no hacking or tampering with machines.
In a statement on Tuesday, Raffensperger said, “Pro V&V found no evidence of machines being tampered.” The statement’s headline read, “No sign of foul play.”
“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.”
Read the statement below:
Inbox: Secretary Raffensperger Announces Completion of Voting Machine Audit Using Forensic Techniques: No Sign of Foul Play pic.twitter.com/AJ08J8p8pZ
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) November 17, 2020
Shortly after the election, unfounded conspiracy theories surfaced that there was a computer program that was able to change enough votes to swing the election.
Several conservative pundits have embraced the claim. However, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the theory is “nonsense.”
While Raffensperger said the audit did not find evidence tampering with voting machines, reports did reveal that the recount discovered that 2,600 ballots from Floyd County were not counted initially because they were not uploaded.
A member of the secretary of state’s office said that Raffensperger “would like to see that elections director in Floyd County step down from his position.”
Still, Georgia’s officials say they have not found evidence of widespread fraud.
