Georgia secretary of state orders an audit of signatures on mail-in ballots in Cobb County in a bid to reassure voters ahead of January 5 Senate run-off
Georgia's secretary of state announced on Monday that an audit of signatures on mail-in ballots in one country will be carried out 'to restore confidence' - although it will not change the results of the November 3 election.
Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has been under pressure for weeks to investigate what Donald Trump claims was massive voter fraud in the state.
Both Raffenspeger and the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, have insisted that there has not been widespread election malpractice, but that has not reassured Trump or his supporters.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, announced the audit on Monday
The president, pictured campaigning on December 5, has demanded a fraud investigation
On Sunday night the president called Kemp - who he championed during the 2018 election - a 'clown' and 'a fool' for not doing more to investigate.
'What a fool Governor @BrianKempGA of Georgia is,' Trump tweeted.
'Could have been so easy, but now we have to do it the hard way.
'Demand this clown call a Special Session and open up signature verification, NOW. Otherwise, could be a bad day for two GREAT Senators on January 5th.'
A crucial run-off vote is being held in January to contest two Senate seats. The result will determine who controls the Senate.
On Monday Raffensperger, who previously refused to carry out an audit, relented.
Previously he said there had not been reports of fraud to warrant an inquiry; on Monday he said that reports from Cobb County, which surrounds the city of Marietta and includes some Atlanta suburbs, merited investigation.
Signatures on the envelopes containing mail-in ballots will be checked against a previous list of signatures, to see if they match.
It will not be possible to check that the signatures on the actual ballot paper match, because they are separated from their envelopes and become anonymous.
Officials will review a 'statistically significant sample of absentee ballot envelopes' from both the primary and general election in Cobb County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Signatures on envelopes will be compared to signatures from when voters registered, either at driver’s license offices or on paper forms.
Raffenperger, seen on Monday announcing the audit, previously said it was not necessary
Machine and hand counts showed that Joe Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes, and the Electoral College voted for Biden on Monday.
Raffensperger said the audit would be done by December 28 and, although it won't affect the presidential race, he hoped it would restore confidence in the process.
'Now that the signature-matching has been attacked again and again with no evidence, I feel we need to take steps to restore confidence in our elections,' Raffensperger said at a press conference.
'Starting immediately, we are pulling all of our resources together with GBI to conduct a signature match audit in Cobb County.'
Trump has yet to concede defeat in the 2020 presidential election and has alleged widespread voter fraud in Georgia and other states where results favored Biden.
'Vote privacy is top of mind and we will never release how someone voted. We are only reviewing the signatures on the envelope,' Raffensperger added.
'We recently received a report that Cobb County may not have conducted a proper signature match in June and we will look into that claim.'
Raffensperger has said he wants to replace signature matching in future elections, and intends to ask the General Assembly to require photo ID with absentee ballots.
Kemp welcomed Raffensperger's move to hold an audit.
'After calling for a signature audit repeatedly since the November 3rd election, I am glad Secretary Raffensperger has finally taken this necessary step to begin restoring confidence in Georgia's election process,' he said.
Kelly Loeffler, the Republican senator facing a tough challenge to hold onto her seat, said the audit was a start, but should be repeated statewide.
Last week she filed a federal lawsuit with fellow Senator David Perdue that seeks additional procedures to check the work of election officials who verify voter signatures for absentee ballots.
'That's a start. Only 158 counties left to go,' said Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for Loeffler. 'Full audit or it didn't happen.'