Georgia’s Top Election Official Joins GOP Call to Restrict Absentee Voting, Citing Potential for Fraud

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joined fellow Republicans Wednesday in calling for an end to allowing all voters in the state to submit absentee ballots without providing justification for why they cannot vote in person.

Many states instituted “no-excuse” absentee voting in 2020 so that voters could avoid crowds at polling sites during the coronavirus pandemic, although Georgia has had it for 15 years. After the high voter turnout and tumultuous aftermath of the 2020 election, Raffensperger endorsed eliminating the practice during a Georgia House hearing.

“The no-excuse system voted into law in 2005 — long before most of you, if not all of you, long before I was in the General Assembly — it makes no sense when we have three weeks of in-person early voting available,” Raffensberger said. “It opens the door to potential illegal voting, especially in light of the federal rules that deny us the ability to keep voter lists, registration files, clean.”

Raffensberger also noted that allowing everyone to vote via absentee ballot poses logistical difficulties.

In addition to changing the standard for who can vote absentee, Raffensberger also called to impose a voter ID requirement for absentee ballots instead of the current signature-matching system, which could be subjective.

The suggestions to improve election security came immediately after Raffensberger claimed most allegations of voter fraud during November’s election were invalid. He opened the hearing by saying that while “there are real, substantive questions,” but “the vast majority of claims we have seen online and in the media, and even discussed in the halls of the Capitol are simply unfounded.”

When asked why Raffensberger’s office wanted to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, the secretary of state’s general counsel Ryan Germany explained, “It’s harder to provide confidence in that process.”

.@BeeForGeorgia asks @GaSecofState's office why they would eliminate no excuse absentee voting in the state if there was no wide spread fraud.

Ryan Germany responds "It's harder to provide confidence in that process." @FOX5Atlanta

— Brooke Zauner (@BrookeZaunerTV) December 23, 2020