Alabama secretary of state offering assistance to Georgia officials amid election turmoil

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is under increased pressure as national scrutiny continues over the Peach State’s elections process.

On Monday, U.S. Senators Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) issued a joint statement strongly calling on Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, to resign. Both senators appear set to be candidates in separate January 5 runoff contests.

“The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Georgians are outraged, and rightly so,” stated Loeffler and Perdue. “We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn’t hard. This isn’t partisan. This is American. We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out — even when it’s in your own party.”

“There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems,” they wrote. “The Secretary of State has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections. He has failed the people of Georgia, and he should step down immediately.”

Reacting to the Georgia senators’ statement, Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill released a statement of his own to Yellowhammer News. He referenced not only his counterpart in Georgia but also Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA), who served as secretary of state of Georgia from 2010 to 2018.

“Governor Kemp is a close personal friend of mine and Secretary Raffensperger and I have a great professional relationship,” advised Merrill.

“We reached out to both of them last week to express our interest and enthusiasm in providing assistance, if necessary, with the closing of their General Election or upcoming Runoff Election scheduled for January 5,” he continued. “That offer for assistance remains for them to consider, and we wish them the best in the execution of their Runoff and look forward to a successful result.”

Raffensperger has subsequently announced that he will not be resigning.

Of Georgia’s November 3 general election, Raffensperger acknowledged, “Was there illegal voting? I am sure that there was. And my office is investigating all of it.”

“Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? That is unlikely,” he added.

The response from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: “Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/ZBXv4G4gHO

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) November 9, 2020

As of Monday at 3:45 p.m. CT, former Vice President Joe Biden was leading President Donald Trump in Georgia by more than 11,000 votes. President Trump and his campaign team are fighting legal battles on this front, as well as in states such as Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Georgia will be a big presidential win, as it was the night of the Election,” Trump tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Merrill on Friday released a statement outlining his thoughts on the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election results in certain states. He also commented further in a radio interview.

U.S. Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL), Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth (R-AL), PSC President Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R-AL) and Congressmen Bradley Byrne (AL-01), Mike Rogers (AL-03), Robert Aderholt (AL-04), Mo Brooks (AL-05) and Gary Palmer (AL-06) have also weighed in on the election turmoil.