Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said a “clerical error” in the state does not “erase valid, legal votes,” responding to renewed scrutiny of Georgia’s 2020 election results—an outcome former President Donald Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed was “stolen” from him.
Earlier this month, Fulton County acknowledged before the Georgia State Election Board that more than 130 tabulator tapes from the 2020 election were not signed. County officials said the lapse involved about 315,000 ballots, fueling fresh questions about the results even though multiple audits—including a hand count—affirmed the outcome.
Why It Matters
Trump and his allies have consistently claimed—without evidence of widespread voter fraud—that the 2020 election was stolen and that former President Joe Biden did not win in Georgia and other states.
In early January 2021, ahead of Biden taking office, Trump called Raffensperger, a Republican, urging him to help “find” enough votes to overturn the election. Biden won the 2020 election with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, and even if Georgia had flipped to Trump, Biden still would have won.
Georgia’s 2020 results have been examined repeatedly through audits, recounts, and investigations, including a statewide hand recount and audit that confirmed the original totals, along with additional reviews by state officials and election boards that looked into procedural issues and fraud allegations.
What To Know
Earlier this month, Fulton County attorney Ann Brumbaugh told the Georgia State Election Board that the county “does not dispute that the tapes were not signed,” describing the missing signatures as “a violation of the rule.”
Georgia state Rule 183-1-12-.12 states that after polls close, and in order to tabulate results, “the poll manager and the two witnesses shall cause each ballot scanner to print three tapes of the tabulated results and shall sign each tape indicating that it is a true and correct copy of the tape produced by the ballot scanner.” That process was not properly completed for more than 130 tapes, which account for roughly 315,000 votes.
However, the missing signatures do not negate the ballots themselves, which have been recounted multiple times as part of verification efforts.
In a Saturday X post, Raffensperger emphasized that “all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots.” He added, “A clerical error at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes.”
The unsigned tapes have prompted a wave of renewed claims among some Republicans and Make America Great Again (MAGA) figures. Elon Musk weighed in by saying “massive voting fraud [was] uncovered,” and the president reshared a post on Truth Social arguing that in Georgia “intentional human intervention” caused the election to be taken from Trump.
What People Are Saying
Representative Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, wrote in a December 20 X post: “President Trump is owed a massive apology. Turns out over 300,000 early votes in the 2020 election were illegally certified but still included in the final results. I’m tired of empty words from weak leaders. The people of Georgia deserve action.”
Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts told Channel 2: “We do not have anything to hide, and we will never have anything to hide as long as I’m here.”
Steve Bannon wrote in a GETTR post: “Mr President, Please No More Strongly Worded Letters from DoJ…Call Out the U.S. Marshals, Seize the Ballots, the Machines and Arrest the Guilty.”
Donald Trump Jr. said in a December 19 X post: “So what we all knew back in 2020, what we all stated out loud and everyone in the media, the establishment, and the Washington DC machine lied about ended up being 100% true. I’m so shocked! Yet another conspiracy theory proven right!”
What Happens Next
On Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney granted the election board access to the country’s 2020 ballots. He ruled that the election board must pay for the process, which Fulton County estimates will cost nearly $400,000 to comply with the subpoena. The judge ordered the county to provide a detailed cost list by January 7.
Brumbaugh said “procedures have been updated,” adding that “since then, the training has been enhanced, the poll watchers are trained specifically. They’ve got to sign the tapes in the morning, and they’ve got to sign the tapes when they’re run at the end of the day.”
