Georgia Republican Party Joins Governor’s Call For Absentee Ballot Signature Audit
The Executive Committee unanimously approved a joint letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger supporting Governor Brian Kemp’s urging for an audit of Georgia’s mail-in absentee ballots. The letter is posted in full below:
Dear Mr. Secretary:
As you are aware, we urged you during the general election to issue a bulletin authorizing our monitors to observe the absentee ballot verification process. This bulletin was regrettably not issued and we have grave concerns as to whether or not proper verification took place.
In Fulton County, two members of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections voted against certifying the returns of the election because of concerns over absentee ballot verification in that county. Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer and Congressman Doug Collins on behalf of President Donald J. Trump wrote to you immediately after the election requesting an audit of the absentee ballots cast in the 2020 General Election prior to certifying the returns.
On Friday, after you certified the returns without auditing the absentee ballots, Governor Brian Kemp publicly called on you to conduct an absentee ballot audit.
We write today, as members of the State Executive Committee of the Georgia Republican Party and citizens of the State of Georgia, to urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to order an immediate audit of the absentee ballots cast in the 2020 General Election. This audit must include verification of signature match.
We believe an audit is imperative to assure the integrity of the election and restore the shattered confidence in our electoral system.
Respectfully,
State Executive Committee of the Georgia Republican Party
David Shafer, State Chairman
Jason Thompson, National Committeeman
Ginger Howard, National Committeewoman
John Watson, Immediate Past State Chairman
Carolyn Fisher, First Vice Chairman
Brant Frost V, Second Vice Chairman
Michael Welsh, Secretary
B.J. Van Gundy, Assistant Secretary
Joseph Brannan, Treasurer
Vikki Consiglio, Assistant Treasurer
John White, Parliamentarian
Phil Lott, First Congressional District Chairman
Brandon Phillips, Second Congressional District Chairman
Mike Crane, Third Congressional District Chairman
Rachel Little, Fourth Congressional District Chairman
Brandon Seigler, Fifth Congressional District Chairman
David Belle Isle, Sixth Congressional District Chairman
Joel Natt, Seventh Congressional District Chairman
Bethany Ballard, Eighth Congressional District Chairman
Rebecca Yardley, Ninth Congressional District Chairman
Karen Schwind, Tenth Congressional District Chairman
Brad Carver, Eleventh Congressional District Chairman
Buck Moon, Twelfth Congressional District Chairman
Bob Hinton, Thirteenth Congressional District Chairman
Darrell Galloway, Fourteenth Congressional District Chairman
Jason Shepherd, Cobb County Chairman representing large population counties
Cathy Latham, Coffee County Chairman representing small population counties
About Author
nsmith
Father. IT Geek. Former 14th District GOP Chairman (2015-2017). Former Walker GOP Chairman (2009-2013). Resident of Chamblee. American. Georgian. Conservative.
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Since the signature is on the inner envelope and not on the physical absentee ballot itself how can the ballot be matched to the envelope at this point? Are absentee ballots not a secret after all? Are truly unbiased handwriting experts going to be utilized? If a signature is rejected will the voter be contacted? Mine differs greatly from my teenage one originally signed decades ago. Is this pure theatre to exhibit fielty to greatest embarrassment to ever hold the office?
The signature is on the exterior envelope–not the interior white envelope. The signatures have already been validated by elections officials who were trained by GBI handwriting experts. If the signature did not match, then the voter was contacted to rectify the problem. Once the exterior envelope has been removed of the validated mail-in ballot, then ballot can no longer be matched to its envelope.
So the requested audit will just be comparing the signatures on envelopes to the signatures on record at time of voter registration, without any impact on ballots at all?
I think the most likely finding is that people are going to be disagreeable about it because they can, as a way of continuing a false narrative. I get the idea that it might shore up confidence, among a sparse few, but my guess is that it will be used as a forum to raise disputes, sow discord and doubt, and develop new legal claims. Those claims, in turn, may be used to bootstrap yet another lawsuit to attempt to prevent electoral process proceeding by Dec. 8th. Worth noting that signature matching has some logic to it, but it’s far from a perfect science, and I expect that every jot and tittle will be contested and disputed, even after contested signatures are fairly adjudicated. Side note that an audit of the signatures can probably happen at any point before the envelopes are shredded– I don not know of records retention policy here– but the only urgency to do so immediately would be based upon a high likelihood that it would change the results. And we all should know the answer to that question because the only way to change the results based upon the audit of envelopes would be to toss out the entire election based upon a % of envelopes being disputed. It makes more sense to do the audit after January, to confirm system confidence, or shore up procedures as may be necessary. If you do an audit now may not boost confidence at all, but only become both a grounds for further dispute, but also enable people who remain in denial. And the best thing for Georgians at this point may be to just move fwd with the results and allow reality to settle in.
The more I think about these stunts and their blatant attempts to undermine our democratic processes, the more incensed I become. In 2016 a large portion of the rumour and innuendo was inspired from Russia via social media in an attempt to do just that. Was that not quashed in 2020 or has this administration’s Justice Department even cared since a great deal of this hogwash has been flung directly from the throne this time around. Furthur flame fanning of this ilk could be detrimental to obtaining a Republican-controlled Senate and is absolutely irresponsible from a party that claims to be about law and order. If you don’t like absentee ballots then change the laws, don’t go after those diligently trying to uphold them and those that cast them in a year with a valid need to avoid crowds. Unfounded paranoia should not be a party plank.