Georgia’s Republican senators call for resignation of GOP secretary of state

‘That is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me,’ Brad Raffensperger says

Georgia's Republican senators have called for the state’s GOP secretary of state to resign after they were left to face run-off elections in January following this year's election day.

Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue demanded Brad Raffensperger’s resignation in a joint statement released on Monday.

The officials cited “too many failures” in the state’s election process this year but did not offer any specific evidence to support their claims.

“We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out – even when it's in your own parts,” the statement reads. “There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems.

“There must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn’t hard. This isn’t partisan. This is American,” the senators 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."

The controversy comes after it was confirmed that both Sen Loeffler and Sen Perdue would be heading for a runoff election in races against their Democratic rivals in January, as both candidates failed to secure a 50 per cent majority on election day.

Mr Raffensperger swiftly hit back in a lengthy statement of his own saying: “That is not going to happen.

“The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me,” he said. “I know emotions are running high. Politics are involved in everything right now. If I was senator Perdue, I’d be irritated I was in a runoff.

“But I am the duly elected secretary of state. One of my duties involves helping to run elections for all Georgia voters. I have taken that oath and I will execute that duty and follow Georgia law."

The secretary of state went on to defend the election process in Georgia with a list of “facts” evidencing the state’s election day as a “resounding success” including references to short voting waiting times, a record turnout, and investigations into any potential double voters.

“And as far as lack of transparency – we were literally putting releases of results up at a minimum hourly. I and my office have been holding daily briefings for the press to walk them through all the numbers. So that particular charge is laughable," Mr Raffensperger said.

While the secretary of state admitted that he was “sure” there had been illegal voting, he said it was “unlikely” that it would have risen “to the numbers of margin to change the outcome to where President Donald Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes.”

Concluding his statement Mr Raffensperger took one last swipe at the two politicians saying: "As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the US Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that."

The two January runoffs are likely to decide who controls the Senate as Democrats need to gain two extra seats alongside Joe Biden’s presidency to break even with GOP incumbents. In this case, vice president-elect Kamala Harris would hold a decisive vote in the chamber whenever there is a 50-50 tie.

In the regular election, Sen Perdue fell just under 50 per cent of the vote needed for a majority against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff with 49.7 per cent to 47.9 per cent with 99 per cent of the vote counted, and a runoff was declared by the Associated Press on Saturday.

In the special election, Sen Loeffler came in second behind Democrat Raphael Warnock with 25.9 per cent to 32.9 per cent. The runoff was called on Tuesday when it became evident neither candidate would reach the 50 per cent majority-vote requirement.

The president-elect has continued to grow his lead in the state, with a lead over Mr Trump of more than 10,000 votes. News organisations have yet to call the battleground state in his favour.

Mr Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election by networks and news agencies on Saturday. Mr Trump has yet to concede to the president-elect, baselessly claiming voter fraud in battleground states that he says cost him his victory.