Georgia Republican election official says Trump’s false claims of electoral fraud are undermining democracy

US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally for US Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ahead of their January runoff elections to determine control of the US Senate on December 5, 2020 in Valdosta, Georgia, USA.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Georgia Republican electoral officials continued to refute Donald Trump’s false claims of electoral fraud on Sunday as the outgoing president tries to pressure the governor to overthrow President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state

“The president’s statements are false, they are misinformation,” Gabriel Sterling, manager for the implementation of the voting system for Georgia, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning. “You stir up anger and fear among his followers.”

“This is undermining democracy,” said Republican Sterling. “We have to get to a point where responsible people act responsibly.”

Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger countered in an interview with ABC on Sunday morning about the president’s unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud.

“We have never found systemic fraud that was insufficient to topple the elections,” he said.

Republican electoral officials spoke out the day after Trump appeared at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, where he was fighting for Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are facing runoff elections. There he continued to claim, without evidence, that the election had been stolen from him.

The event was intended to encourage turnout for the January 5 runoff elections that will determine the balance of power in the Senate.

“We are all deeply concerned about the lying, cheating, robbing and stealing that happened in our elections,” said Trump at the rally.

The votes in Georgia were counted by hand and confirmed Biden’s victory. The results were confirmed on November 20th.

Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler watch in front of U.S. President Donald Trump hosting a campaign event with Perdue and Loeffler at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia, United States, on December 5, 2020.

Dustin Chambers | Reuters

“The president owes it to every American to see that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not,” said Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary for Trump’s campaign.

Trump’s allegations of voting integrity come at a crucial time as the Senate runoff elections are just weeks away. The president urges Governor Brian Kemp to request a signature verification of the ballot papers and call a special session of the legislature to undo Biden’s victory.

“It is time for the leaders of the national security community, the Republican Party, to stand up, accept the results, and move forward,” said Chris Krebs, former director of the agency for cybersecurity and infrastructure security in the Department of Homeland Security.

Cancer, a lifelong Republican fired by Trump last month, appeared on Face the Nation on CBS Sunday morning.

“Every court case or filing has been rejected by the courts,” he said. “And so we don’t see any fraud claims, security claims, anything like that, we just don’t see any supporting evidence.”

“It’s time to move on,” said Krebs. “You should have confidence, and Georgia voters especially, should have confidence in the election. You have to get out for the January 5th Senate runoff.”