More than 8,000 volunteers will serve as Republican poll watchers during the Georgia Senate runoffs taking place on Tuesday, roughly doubling the 4,000 poll watchers who oversaw the state’s early voting proceedings.
Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the incumbent Republicans defending their seats in twin contests that will determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress, praised the development as a win for election integrity.
“Georgians deserve total confidence in the fairness and accuracy of our state’s elections, and we’re thankful to the thousands of volunteers who will ensure that these runoffs are safe, secure, and that every legal vote is counted,” they said in a joint statement to Fox News. “Georgia Republicans have already mobilized the most robust ground game and poll watching operation in the state’s history and are fully prepared to make certain that the integrity of next week’s elections will not be cast under a shadow of doubt. Everything is on the line on Election Day – no Georgian should have to question the outcomes.”
The plan comes as people nationwide continue to have doubts about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election. An academic study of the race released on Tuesday found 289,000 “excess” votes for Joe Biden in several swing states, margins that were deemed “suspicious.” A Pew Research Center poll also found nearly half of all voters surveyed believe voter fraud occurred during the election.
President Trump has shared his belief that there was widespread electoral fraud, particularly in the Peach State, which gave its electoral votes to a Democratic contender for the first time in decades. After claiming Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp mishandled Trump’s legal team’s repeated recount attempts, Trump called for Kemp’s resignation in a Wednesday morning tweet.
“@BrianKempGA should resign from office,” the president wrote. “He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG!”
Hearings from Atlanta on the Georgia Election overturn now being broadcast. Check it out. @OANN @newsmax and many more. @BrianKempGA should resign from office. He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 30, 2020
In spite of the president’s frustrations with some elected officials in Georgia, Trump has expressed steadfast support for the two incumbent senators. On Dec. 19, he announced that he would be traveling to the state to host a rally in support of the two Republicans on Monday, the day before voters will head to the polls.
“As badly as we were treated in Georgia by the ‘Republican’ Governor and ‘Republican’ Secretary of State, we must have a massive victory for two great people, @KLoeffler & @sendavidperdue, on January 5th,” he wrote. “I will be having a big Rally for them on Monday night, January 4th. WIN!”
As badly as we were treated in Georgia by the “Republican” Governor and “Republican” Secretary of State, we must have a massive victory for two great people, @KLoeffler & @sendavidperdue, on January 5th. I will be having a big Rally for them on Monday night, January 4th. WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2020
