ATLANTA — A day after a powerful Georgia Republican called for the elimination of all absentee ballot drop boxes, we’re hearing criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
The Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation ranked Georgia tops in the nation for election integrity — and that includes drop boxes.
Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts called any proposal to get rid of them ridiculous.
“It’s probably one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard of,” Pitts said.
He told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot he doesn’t think much of Republican State Sen. Butch Miller’s proposed legislation to eliminate all absentee ballot drop boxes.
“They’re all trying to appease former-President Trump, doing anything they can to bash Fulton County and our good name. And I’m simply not going to stand for it,” Pitts said.
Miller is running for lieutenant governor and made the proposal Monday.
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It comes barely a year after he voted for the controversial Election Integrity Act that requires counties to have one drop box per 100,000 people.
But now, in a statement, Miller said, “This is the next step in our fight to restore Georgians’ faith in our election system. Removing drop boxes will help rebuild the trust that has been lost.”
But on Tuesday, The Heritage Foundation ranked Georgia No. 1 for election integrity.
“It means that we’re a leader in voter integrity and also security,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
His office disputed Miller’s claim that not every county had video surveillance of drop boxes and pointed to the fact it only found one irregularity in drop box voting — a woman who voted one minute past the deadline.
Raffensperger defended his office and Georgia voting.
“This office and I have worked very hard on making sure we have integrity up and down the line,” Raffensperger said.
Elliot attempted to contact Miller and his office for comment on this story but did not hear back from either Tuesday.
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