Georgia anons 1000 voters double voted in the primary

1,000 people double-voted in Georgia primary, says Secretary of State

Mark Niesse

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Tuesday that 1,000 Georgians voted twice in the state’s June 9 primary, a felony that he said will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

These voters returned absentee ballots and then also showed up to vote on election day June 9, Raffensperger said. County election officials are able to stop double-voting most of the time, but they weren’t able to catch everyone.

“A double voter knows exactly what they’re doing, diluting the votes of each and every voter that follows the law,” Raffensperger said during a press conference at the state Capitol. “Those that make the choice to game the system are breaking the law. And as secretary of state, I will not tolerate it.”

In all, about 150,000 people who requested absentee ballots showed up at polling places on election day, often because they never received their absentee ballots in the mail or decided to instead vote in person.

Of those, 1,000 voters had returned their absentee ballots to county election offices, and poll workers also allowed them to vote in-person.

Double-voting didn’t change the outcome of any races in the primary, Raffensperger said.

Absentee voting fraud has been rare in recent years in Georgia, according to a review of State Election Board records by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But Raffensperger said the sharp increase in absentee voting, from about 5% in past elections to nearly 50% of votes in the primary, increased the opportunity for double-voting.

Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Director Scott Hogan said fraud continues to be rare in Georgia elections.

“It is clear that rather than do his job of promoting the safety and security of our voting process, the secretary of state is instead pushing the GOP’s voting conspiracy theories and disinformation,” Hogan said.

The Georgia attorney general’s office and local prosecutors will decide whether to bring charges following investigations on a case-by-case basis, Raffensperger said.

Double-voting is a felony in Georgia, punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $100,000, he said.

During the primary, about 1.15 million people cast absentee ballots. So far, about 900,000 people have requested absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 general election.

Please return to AJC.com for updates.

https://www.ajc.com/politics/1000-people-double-voted-in-georgia-primary-and-may-face-charges/RR7ZPMO2SBBVLOSCUUAV7S3JEQ/