Georgia GOP censures state official who criticized Trump

The Georgia Republican Party passed a resolution on Saturday to censure Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) after he refused to act on former President Trump’s false claims of election fraud in the state, despite mounting pressure.

Trump in January asked Raffensperger to overturn his loss to President Biden in the state, despite Biden securing nearly 12,000 more votes. Trump claimed that fraud had infiltrated the election.

“All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state,” Trump told Raffensperger in a January phone call, according to audio obtained by The Washington Post.

Trump’s pressure on Raffensperger came days after a signature audit of the election results in a key Georgia county confirmed there was no fraud, which was the third review to bolster Biden’s win in the Peach State.

State Republicans said they were censuring Raffensperger for “dereliction of his Constitutional duty,” according to a copy of the resolution obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Here’s a version of the resolution that just passed at the GOP convention that “censured” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for “dereliction of his Constitutional duty” and calls on @GovKemp to “repair the damage that has been done.” #gapol pic.twitter.com/l5mE8Mbg9L

— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) June 5, 2021

The resolution accuses Raffensperger of “undermining the security of our elections” by permitting “mass mailings” of absentee ballot applications, which Republicans say “created opportunities for fraud and overwhelmed election offices.”

Additionally, the party said the absentee ballots made signature matching “nearly impossible,” and it took issue with allowing ballot drop boxes “without proper chain of custody.”

The GOP also said Raffensperger ignored sworn affidavits and set aside evidence claiming voter fraud.

In a statement to The Hill, Raffensperger called the GOP’s reasons for censure “perfidious and void of facts and reality.”

“My office will continue to uphold the rule of law and support the democratic process. We will continue to fight frivolous lawsuits by losing candidates like Stacey Abrams and former President Trump,” he added.

Raffensperger last month said he plans to run for reelection next year, despite the criticism from within his own party. Trump, however, has already endorsed his challenger, Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.).

The party passed the resolution at the Georgia GOP convention this weekend.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who is also running for reelection in 2022, received boos from Trump loyalists at the convention, after the former president attacked him for not supporting efforts to overturn the election.