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| Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger was elected in 2018. |
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, could part ways with his position over roles he played in the November 3rd US election scandal.
According to a report by The Epoch times, calls for Raffensperger to step down has intensified as many Republicans continue to express deep frustration with the Georgian Secretary of State over his his handling of the election, and his refusal to allow signature verification during recounts.
The State's House Speaker, David Ralston, announced on Thursday that he’s seeking to replace the state’s top election official amid a barrage of criticism from the GOP, President Donald Trump, and a bevy of state lawmakers.
Ralston, a Republican, told reporters in Atlanta that he is going to try to get a constitutional amendment passed that would take the power to select the secretary of state from voters and give it to legislators.
“I think it’s time in Georgia that we look at an alternative way of electing our secretary of state,” Ralston said at a press conference. “I’m dead serious about this.”
He said he spoke with Tennessee’s secretary of state and heard good things about having lawmakers choose who to fill the position.
“He volunteered to me that it really builds into the process a feeling on the part of he and his office that they are accountable to and answer to the General Assembly because they know that we’re accountable to the people,” Ralston explained.
Constitutional amendments in Georgia require a two-thirds majority vote in each legislative chamber to make it on the ballot. Approximately 84 percent of amendments that made it onto ballots were passed between 1996 and 2018. Republicans hold a 35-21 majority in the state Senate and a 105-75 majority in the state House. Some Democratic support would be required in each chamber.
Republicans who are frustrated with Raffensperger, say a consent decree he entered into with Democrats earlier this year relaxed election safeguards. They say he blocked signature verification during recounts. And they say he should step down for the numerous irregularities seen during and after the Nov. 3 election.
Raffensperger and others with the office have defended his actions, alleging that he actually strengthened signature verification before the election and that it wasn’t possible to do it again during recounts.
Ralston described himself as “completely shocked” that Raffensperger’s office refused to participate in a state hearing on Thursday. “I don’t ever remember in my time serving in this general assembly, a constitutional officer refusing to come before a House or a Senate committee to offer up information that might be helpful to the people’s representatives,” he said.