Four state senators in Georgia are calling for a special session to address matters arising from the controversy of Georgia’s November 3rd election.
Sen. Greg Dolezal (R – Cumming), Sen. William Ligon (R – Brunswick), Sen. Brandon Beach (R – Alpharetta) and Sen. Burt Jones (R – Jackson) released the following statement ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday:
“Last week we held a press conference asking for certain measures to be taken to secure the legal vote of our citizens in the 2020 General Election. We were glad to hear Governor Kemp and the Georgia GOP also call for a signature audit of the election. Yet, some things that must be addressed can only be done so by the reconvening of the entire legislative body.
We now urge the General Assembly or Governor to call a Special Session so that we can address structural issues with our voting system before the January runoff. Furthermore, we need to address directives from the Secretary of State and the State Election Board that attempt to replace the conditions of Georgia law.
The call for a Special Session should include the presenting of any evidence of voter fraud from the Government Oversight Committee hearings as well as any new evidence that comes to light to the full legislative body.
Furthermore, the call should provide for implementation of a notary or photo ID requirement for absentee by mail voting. As the risk limiting audit has shown, we have structural issues with the implementation and proper execution of our ballot counting procedures. The call should allow for changes to existing law to ensure that we never again miss the counting of thousands of ballots in any Georgia County as we all witnessed last week.
This may require appropriation of funding to accomplish these enhancements for the January Runoff Election.
Again, as senators who are entrusted with the duty to represent our constituents, we must do all we can to defend the integrity of their vote. The honest vote of the people is the one political act that stands between a government of the people and for the people as opposed to tyranny. Our U.S. Constitution requires us to defend our democratic Republic against all its foes. Article IV, Section 4, of the Constitution guarantees to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. A Republican Form of Government means a government in which the supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote, and not just vote, but vote knowing that their vote authentically counts so that they can entrust their will to elected officials who will faithfully govern according to law. We are the trustees of the people, and we must secure their vote against all those, both foreign and domestic, who would defraud them of their collective decision at the ballot box.”
George Wilson
December 4, 2020 at 2:55 pm
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”—Dante Alighieri.
Well, the ballots have been cast and tabulated in this presidential election. They have found errors, but no fraud, and nothing that comes close to changing the results: Democratic candidate Joe Biden was the winner of the state’s 16 electoral votes.
That makes all the more unforgivable the conduct of Georgia’s two Republican senators in making reckless charges about the integrity of the vote. Their attempt to undermine the election by asking Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to resign.
Also, President Trump’s dishonest and anti-democratic machinations should not be forgotten by Georgia voters when they go to the polls in January, or sooner if voting early, for two critical U.S. Senate runoff elections.
Furthermore, if the Democrats win both, they will narrowly control the Senate, and Joe Biden will be able to pursue ambitious legislation on many fronts, from COVID-19, to climate change, and job creation, on taxes, and many more fronts. If Republicans win either Georgia seat, they will retain Senate control with Mitch McConnell in charge, and Biden will need at least one Republican vote to pass any bill.
Republicans were almost uniformly unwilling to work with Presidents Bill Clinton or Barack Obama on major legislation, dealing with taxes, the climate, health care, economic stimulus, etc. Obama offered various compromises — like market-based systems to expand health insurance or combat climate change — and still could not win Republican votes.
Maybe Biden will somehow prove more adept at finding Republican votes than Obama or Clinton. More likely, though, the elections in Georgia will shape Washington for at least the next two years.
Finally, some of the most important legislation in this country’s history, including Social Security and early civil rights legislation, emerged when one party controlled both Congress and the White House.
Georgia voters have an opportunity to enable another period of tangible progress. The alternative is to reward two politicians conspiring to groundlessly undermine faith in American democracy.
Don Gilmer
December 8, 2020 at 5:32 am
There is a simple common sense solution. Examine the voting machines and verify the signatures on the mail in ballots. If Joe Biden won Georgia fairly with legal votes why wouldn’t transparency be welcomed to settle the matter openly in the public eye once and for all? We the people of Georgia deserve an honest assessment in full public view. The fight against transparency speaks for itself.
Jim Harris
December 8, 2020 at 6:26 am
It just amazes me that anyone gives a serial liar like Trump any credibility, much less subverting democracy with his clearly baseless lies concerning voter fraud. I was a moderate, fiscally conservative republican, but there is no way I will get anywhere near the abhorration the party has become. It has become the party of stupid.
Don Gilmer
December 10, 2020 at 10:37 pm
So you don’t want to settle this election with transparency? I guess something is wrong with signature verification? What is wrong with auditing the voting machine software? Transparency settles everything. I am all for every single legal vote counting and every illegal vote not counting. The lack of transparency is what subverts democracy. It is not over yet…… and you know it!!!!! The truth will win over lies like sunlight conquers darkness.