Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp rejected President Donald Trump’s repeated demands to call a special legislative session in a bid to have Republicans appoint electors that would override the result of the election, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Trump had repeatedly demanded that Kemp call a special session so that Republican lawmakers can name a pro-Trump slate of electors that would override the will of the voters. President-elect Joe Biden won the state by more than 12,000 votes, which has been reaffirmed twice after multiple recounts and audits.
Kemp has said he supports Trump’s call for a third audit of signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes but such an audit is impossible.
"Signatures were verified twice before absentee ballots were accepted, and conducting another check wouldn't change the outcome of the race because the signatures cannot be traced back to ballots,” the Journal-Constitution reported.
Kemp rejects demand:
Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said in a joint statement rejecting the demand.
“State law is clear: the legislature could only direct an alternative method for choosing presidential electors if the election was not able to be held on the date set by federal law,” they said.
“Any attempt by the legislature to retroactively change that process for the November 3rd election would be unconstitutional and immediately enjoined by the courts,’’ the statement added.
Georgia Republicans push back:
Duncan told CNN that there was no plan to subvert the law.
"Calling the General Assembly back in at this point would almost be along the lines of a solution trying to find a problem," he said. "And we're certainly not going to move the goalposts at this point in the election. We are going to continue to follow the letter of the law, which gives us a very clear-cut direction as to how to execute an election."
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that his office has not “found systemic fraud, not enough to overturn the election.”
Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system manager, denounced Trump’s comments.
"The president's statements are false," he told NBC News. "They’re disinformation. They are stoking anger and fear among his supporters and, hell, I voted for him. The situation is getting much worse, and this is an environment that has been built over years."
