A top Georgia election official hit back at President Trump for sending an alarming tweet about a voting machine problem during an election that he claims had already been resolved hours earlier.
The tech issue, and subsequent back-and-forth on Twitter, took place on Tuesday as voters cast their ballots for the state’s two U.S. Senate runoff elections and some of Trump’s allies continue to cast doubt on the integrity of Georgia’s election process.
In his tweet, Trump said there were reports “coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour. Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them. Thank you Congressman [Rick Allen]!”
In response, Gabriel Sterling, the Georgia secretary of state’s voting systems implementation manager, tweeted that the issue in Columbia County “was resolved hours ago and our office informed the public about it in real time.” He added, “The votes of everyone will be protected and counted. Sorry you received old intel Mr. President.”
And this issue in Columbia Co. was resolved hours ago and our office informed the public about it in real time. The votes of everyone will be protected and counted. Sorry you received old intel Mr. President. https://t.co/qqGmnIqwsM
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) January 5, 2021
WRDW/WAGT, local CBS and NBC affiliates, explained that in the voting system, “which the state has used for less than a year, voters receive a key card to activate a voting machine, then use a touch screen on the machine to make their selections. The machine prints a paper ballot, which voters take to a scanning station and insert to record their votes.”
Hours earlier, Sterling announced in a tweet that there was a “programming error on security keys” for some scanners and poll workers’ cards at the start of the day. He said that the voting locations were still operating but doing so on “backup emergency” paper ballots.
It’s unclear where exactly Trump got his information, but video of John Fredericks, a conservative radio host who served on the Trump campaign’s 2020 advisory committee, talking about issues with Dominion machines in Georgia had already gone viral on Twitter by that point.
“Dominion machines in … three of the largest Republican precincts at 10 a.m. are down. I got this from multiple people. … People have been told that they cannot scan their ballots … because the machines don’t work,” he said.
Fredericks added that technicians were being brought in, but in the meantime, “they have to make their ballot out and put it in an envelope, and the poll workers are saying, ‘When it’s fixed, we’ll scan it for you.’ So, there’s all kinds of red flags.”
Heres @jfradioshow with the scoop.
“Dominion machines in 3 of the largest Republican precincts are down.They are told they cant scan their ballots because the machines dont work.The pole workers are saying ‘When it’s fixed we’ll scan it for you’. There’s all kinds of red flags” pic.twitter.com/zIMzDMpd3b
— WW News ? (@WW_NEWS_) January 5, 2021
Columbia County, which is considered to be a Republican stronghold, is located outside of Augusta.
Trump was in Georgia for a rally Monday night to support Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in their Senate runoff contests against Democratic rivals Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, with the control of the upper chamber at stake.
The president and his allies have repeatedly pushed election fraud claims about electronic voting system hardware and software, including allegations directed at Dominion Voting Systems, which denies the assertions and is gearing up for a fusillade of litigation.
