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VIDEO: Raffensperger speaks at Chamber breakfast, addresses election integrity
Raffensperger speaks at Chamber breakfast

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was in Liberty County on March 11 to talk about election integrity during the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues event. 

Raffensperger spoke about the passing of the Election Integrity Act of 2021, known as Senate Bill 202. He said it implements the requirement of an approved ID for absentee voting.

“They’ve been using that in Minnesota for 10 years now,” he said. “It is an objective measure and it’s been used in red states and blue states.”

He said the bill also increases the number of days for early voting to 17.

“President Biden’s home state of Delaware has 10 days. And we kept no-excuse absentee voting where, as in the president’s home state, you need a permission slip from your doctor so you can vote absentee.”

Raffensperger clarified an often misquoted section of the bill regarding the distribution of water.

“You cannot politic within a 150-foot zone,” he said. “And that has been a rule we’ve had since the beginning of time.” He said people could bring their own water, and water may be distributed outside of that 150-- foot zone. He said during his term, he made Georgia the No. 1 state in the nation for election integrity. He said he is also the first Secretary of State to do a 100% citizen check in the entire voting database. Under the bill, only American citizens can vote. “We are also recognized as having the cleanest voter rolls in the country,” he said. He said that’s because he requested and the state allowed his office to join the electronic registration information center (ERIC). “So, when you move to another state, we find out about it,” he said. “And we can then update our voter rolls.” He said the law mandates voting lines be no more than a one-hour wait. Should the lines be longer and take more time, he said it is up to the county or municipality to address the issue.

Raffensperger told those in attendance that 28,000 Georgia voters skipped voting in the presidential race.

“And yet they voted for the county sheriffs, county commissioners and your state representatives, but they skipped the presidential race,” he said, explaining why Donald Trump lost in Georgia. “And the Republican congressman got 33,000 more votes than President Trump. That is what happened in 2020.”

He said when the rumor started that voting machines were flipping votes, he had his office do a manual recount of all 5 million ballots by hand, which proved the original counts were accurate.

“It also showed the president did come up short, and it also showed the votes were not flipped because we came up with the same numbers — hand count or machine count,” he said.

Raffensperger also spoke about the many improvements his office has done in streamlining opportunities for new businesses. In particular, he spoke about military personnel and their families being moved to the front of the line in getting their professional or occupational licenses.

“Whatever it is that we can do to help the military,” he said. City of Hinesville Mayor Allen Brown said he heard Raffensperger answer a lot of questions that have been floating throughout the community.

“It was very nice to hear good, clear answers,” he said. “He has the right idea about having integrity, and he is doing all the things to make it happen.”

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VIDEO: Raffensperger speaks at Chamber breakfast

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