Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that the recount of the presidential race will be completed in a few days, and he said accusations of voter fraud from some people, including Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville, are lies.
"He's just a flat-out liar," Raffensperger said of Collins.
Collins, who is leading President Trump's recount effort in Georgia, has accused the state of allowing ballot harvesting, or the collection and delivery of absentee ballots by third parties. Raffensperger said harvesting isn't happening in Georgia and, in fact, is against the law.
Raffensperger made his comments during an appearance on WDUN's "Morning Talk with Martha Zoller."
Collins was not immediately available for comment. But late Monday morning he tweeted a response to Raffensperger.
"In a year of political division in Georgia, few things have unified Republicans and Democrats — one of them is Brad Raffensperger’s incompetence as Secretary of State," the tweet said.
The secretary of state said two signature checks are made on every absentee ballot in Georgia and the ballot isn't counted if the ballot doesn't pass both checks. He said absentee ballot requests now require photo IDs or the information contained on a photo ID, a law that was recently passed by the General Assembly.
"That was something failed candidate Doug Collins did nothing about when he was in the state House, Raffensperger said. "When President Trump was elected in 2016, Republicans also controlled the Senate and the House. How come our Republican congressmen, especially Doug Collins, did not fix all those federal laws that tie our hands, that do not allow us to clean up our voter rolls?"
Raffensperger said he pushed for legislation that allowed the state to join the Electronic Registration Information Center that allows Georgia and other states to share voter rolls.
"So if someone from Georgia registers in another state, we know about it," he said. "Do-nothing Doug Collins did nothing. We're a little excited here. This man has been out there lying. It's about time someone spoke truth to what he's been saying."
Raffensperger said the recount will be completed in plenty of time for the state to certify the vote by Nov. 20. The recount, he said, is validating the accuracy of the electronic tabulation of the state's new voting machines.
"It's a silly argument" that fraud has occurred in Georgia, he said. "The hand recount will put that to bed."
He also said his office, in conjunction with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, will investigate new voter registrations since the November election to ensure people aren't registering to vote here in an effort to influence the Jan. 5 runoffs for the U.S. Senate. The state voter registration law says people can register to vote in Georgia if they have the intent to stay here.
"We will prosecute anyone who moves into Georgia to basically defraud the system by coming in here just to vote and then move out," Raffensperger said. "We will look at any challenges of anyone who comes in here. … If you think you're going to defraud the good people of Georgia, no."
He also said the new voting equipment used in Georgia is safe and secure. It's not connected to the internet, so no one can hack the machines, he said.
"It's basically just a giant iPad connected to a printer," the secretary of state said.
When the paper ballot is scanned, the results are stored on two memory cards as well as the paper ballot, which Raffensperger said provides multiple backs up and ensures vote totals are accurate.
