Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger criticized House Democrats’ attempt to overturn the victory of Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa).
Iowa’s board of elections certified Miller-Meeks’s victory by just six votes over opponent Rita Hart. However, the House has final say over contested elections according to the Constitution, so Democrats are currently conducting a review of the close election that could end with Hart being declared the winner.
Raffensperger called on Georgia’s congressional delegation, including Democratic senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, to speak out against the House’s maneuver.
“Georgia’s election workers…sacrificed much in pursuit of free and fair elections,” Raffensperger wrote in a letter. “I received threats and required constant security….My wife received sexualized threats. My grandchildren’s homes were broken into. Poll workers were followed home, threatened online, and even had to go into hiding for simply delivering a free and fair election.”
Raffensperger continued, “In light of what Georgia has gone through in the last few months…I am greatly alarmed that members of Congress would consider overturning the will of the voters as certified by the state, as narrow as it is.”
Raffensperger was a frequent target of criticism by former President Trump, who alleged that Georgia’s elections were conducted fraudulently. Trump and allies have not been able to prove claims of widespread fraud.
Democrats have insisted that their effort to overturn Miller-Meeks’s victory is not comparable to Trump’s allegations of fraud. Hart’s campaign argues that there are 22 ballots cast legally, but allegedly improperly rejected, that if counted would giver her a victory.
“We can’t be concerned about optics,” Representative G.K. Butterfield (D., N.C.), who sits on the House panel reviewing the election, told CNN. “We’ve got to review the evidence and see where it leads us.”
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