ATLANTA — It’s been more than a month since Election Day in Georgia, and after a total of three vote counts, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said it is officially certified.
His office said Monday afternoon that the Secretary of State recertified the election results for a second time.
“The facts are the facts,” Raffensperger told Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray in a one-on-one interview.
[SPECIAL SECTION: Election 2020]
President-Elect Joe Biden won the state and national election, with more than 7 million more total votes than President Trump.
“So you’ve certified the election for a second time, a second federal lawsuit has been dismissed, is this finally over?” Gray asked the Secretary of State.
“Well I can never say it’s over until its actually over. I’m sure the president’s campaign has other legal strategies,” Raffensperger said.
Trump repeated his claims of election fraud in Georgia during a visit to Valdosta over the weekend.
“When the numbers come out of ceilings and come out of leather bags, you start to say, ‘What’s going on?’” Trump said to the crowd at the Valdosta Regional Airport on Saturday.
The president was referencing surveillance video from State Farm Arena that Gray watched with state investigators on Friday.
The video showed no leather bags and no suitcases.
“What’s really frustrating is the president’s attorneys had this same video tape. They saw the same thing the rest of us can see but they just to mislead state Senators and the public on what was on that video tape,” Raffensperger said.
GEORGIA VOTER GUIDE:
- Key Dates for 2020 Runoff Elections in Georgia
- Did you know? You can still register to vote in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs
- How to vote by absentee ballot for Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff elections
In a news conference Monday morning, Raffensperger said misinformation surrounding the election is doing nothing more than hurting the state.
“All of this talk of a stolen election, whether it’s Stacey Abrams or the President of the United States, is hurting our state,” Raffensperger said.
Electors for the Electoral College will be named on Tuesday, and then the electors will meet on Dec. 14 to officially elect the next president.
Raffensperger said it is now time to refocus on preparing for the Jan. 5 senate runoff election.
Elections implementation manager Gabriel Sterling said so far, there have been a total of 1,076,431 absentee ballots put in the election system and 43,289 ballots have been accepted.
Three of the four candidates in the runoff appeared on stage Sunday night for a debate.
Democrat Jon Ossoff stood next to an empty podium to answer questions from the debate panel and moderator. His opponent, Republican Sen. David Perdue, opted not to participate.
Republican incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock were there for the second debate. Both answered questions about the pandemic and a potential stimulus package.
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