alternet--2020-11-17--Trump over-performed the polls twice. This could be the reason why

Two facts from this November 's elections have really gnawed at me : 1 ) Impeached sore loser Donald Trump got 10 million more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 .
Given some losses among suburban college-educated white women and other never-Trumpers , that means that over 10 million new people took a look at Trump 's last four years and thought , `` Yeah , that 's the guy that 's getting me out to cast my first vote . ''
2 ) The polls once again undercounted Republican support , like in 2016 .
Yet in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fine .
So what gives ?
I have a theory , and it 's the existence of a `` hidden deplorable , '' and it 's a wonder Joe Biden and the Democrats managed to salvage the White House given their existence .
From the start , let 's dispense with the notion of a `` shy Trump voter . ''
These people are n't shy , yet they certainly exist .
They 're the assholes trying to run the Biden campaign bus off the road in Texas .
They 're the anti-government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people : There 's nothing `` shy '' about these people or their support for Trump , yet pollsters are n't catching them .
They turn out for Trump , but they did n't turn out for Republicans in 2017 , 2018 , or 2019 .
Remember , last year Democrats picked up governorships in the blood-red states of Louisiana and Kentucky .
No amount of personal begging and pleading from Trump could get Republicans to the polls in those red states , nor did his extensive campaigning help his party during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the national environment only worsened from the COVID-19 pandemic and other Trump self-inflicted wounds ( like his failed trade war against China ) , Republicans stormed back this year , dealing Democrats painful down-ballot losses in the House , Senate , and state legislatures .
Not only will those loses hamstring a Biden administration , even if we win both Senate runoffs in Georgia in January , but Republicans will have a free hand to redraw U.S. House and state legislative maps to their enduring , decades-long advantage .
All because Trump was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So again , who are these people who only vote for Trump , otherwise ignore the Republican Party ( despite Trump 's pleading ) , and do n't talk to pollsters ?
The hidden deplorables are n't Republican .
They are n't even conservative .
They 're apolitical , otherwise ignoring politics , because their lives legitimately suck .
They live in meth country , with dim job prospects ( in fact , those two factors are highly correlated ) .
Institutions have failed them—corporations abandoned them for cheaper labor overseas , government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's certainly not improving their lives .
Cities feel like walled gardens—unattainable , unaffordable , yet that 's where all the jobs are , the culture , the action .
These deplorables have been left behind .
So their attitude ?
`` Fuck them all . ''
Trump shows up in 2016 and gives them hope for change , saying the quiet part out loud—that their lives suck not because of their own choices and that of those decamped corporations , but because all that sweet , sweet government money is going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in those cities .
He puts uppity Black and brown people and women in their place .
He offers them hope that , if he ca n't improve their lives , that at least he 'll hurt all those others .
Their lives suck , but Trump was supposed to be bringing everyone else down to their level .
That 's why all that nonsense about `` economic uncertainty '' was such bullshit .
None of these people ever thought Trump would bring back the factories , paying good middle-class wages .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corporations have .
But it would all be worth it if Trump would just hurt the people he needed to be hurt .
And then he did .
He put brown kids in cages .
He sent federal troops against the Black Lives Matter `` mobs . ''
He nominated judges hostile to a woman 's right to have agency over her body .
And above else ?
He destroyed .
He tore shit down .
Norms , traditions , entire agencies .
So 2020 rolled around , and Trump no longer offered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devastated meth counties .
Instead , he was the personification of their rage made real , in the Oval Office itself .
We saw this in Georgia , where Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins were locked in a battle to make it to the January runoff in the state 's special election .
Loeffler was originally chosen to try and appeal to the very white moderate college-educated suburban women that were abandoning the GOP and endangering the party 's electoral chances .
Collins is a right-wing ideologue , a staunch Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Freedom Caucus wing of the GOP .
So how did Loeffler fend him off ?
By moving to Collins ' right , like this ad that claimed she was `` More conservative than Attila the Hun '' and had a `` 100 per cent Trump voting record . ''
Loeffler literally said she was worse than a king best known for raping , pillaging , plundering , and extorting the Roman Empire into near insolvency .
There are no Hun ruins you can visit today because they built no civilization , created @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truly , Loeffler could n't have picked a better representative of the modern Trumpian Republican Party—destructive , barbaric , and corrupt .
Now given their hatred for institutions like government and the media , is it any wonder that these hidden deplorables would n't answer pollsters ' questions ?
Any attempt to survey them would likely be met with a middle finger and a `` fuck you . ''
So the last four years have shown us that they only turn out when Donald Trump is in the battle .
We 'll have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theory in January , when the two Senate seats in Georgia are decided .
Given the essentially tied result in the presidential race ( we won by a sliver ) , that special election will come down to the party that suffers the last amount of drop-off from their November turnout .
Trump got a remarkable 369,000 more votes in the Peach State this year compared to 2016 , when he won the state by 5 % .
That should 've been enough to seal the deal again .
Yet Stacey Abrams , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allied organizations did the near-impossible : Biden got 594,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 .
That is beyond mind-blowing !
If I 'm right , Republican turnout among those new Trump voters could very well be catastrophic for the GOP .
Now to be clear , no one should expect this .
We assume they get every single one of their voters out .
We need to out-hustle them , and they 'll be working their assess off to turn those people out .
So to be 100 % clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nor is it even a hope .
If Republicans can get these hidden deplorables out , then the political picture the next few cycles will be rough—more closely fought elections , control of Congress and the White House balancing on a razor 's edge .
Making progress will be a tough slog .
On the other hand , if the hidden deplorables only come out when Trump is on the ballot , then that gives us some breathing room in the next few cycles ahead .
That is , until a Trump ends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2024 .
Now this is an evolving theory , and it may be bolstered or undermined as additional data and information emerges ( not to mention the Georgia runoff results will reveal a great deal ) .
But regardless , Trump is likely the single greatest campaigner in modern presidential history .
Hillary Clinton did n't lose because she was a terrible candidate , she lost because she faced a political prodigy , someone whose ability to tickle the darkest recesses of the white American 's lizard brain is unparalleled , in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by popular vote , but by a system that overrepresents white rural states .
Joe Biden cobbled together enough of a coalition to defeat Trump , but the damage was deep down-ballot precisely because so many of the House , Senate , and state legislative battles were fought in disproportionately white and rural states and districts—the places most excited by Trump 's candidacy .
So take a man who has criminally mismanaged the country , enriching himself at the expense of its people and his donors , killed a quarter million Americans due @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic collapse since the Great Depression , and did n't even bother to have a campaign platform because neither he nor his party cares about issues anymore … and he gets 10 million more votes than the last time ?
That number is a testament to his power as a vote-getter .
Let 's hope no other Republicans reverse engineers that formula anytime soon .
And let 's pray that these hidden deplorables , seeing their vote cast for a loser ( and a loser who claims the vote was stolen ! )
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they emerged from .

Two facts from this November's elections have really gnawed at me:
1) Impeached sore loser Donald Trump got 10 million more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. Given some losses among suburban college-educated white women and other never-Trumpers, that means that over 10 million new people took a look at Trump's last four years and thought, "Yeah, that's the guy that's getting me out to cast my first vote."
2) The polls once again undercounted Republican support, like in 2016. Yet in 2018 and 2019, the polls were fine. So what gives?
I have a theory, and it's the existence of a "hidden deplorable," and it's a wonder Joe Biden and the Democrats managed to salvage the White House given their existence.
From the start, let's dispense with the notion of a "shy Trump voter." These people aren't shy, yet they certainly exist. They're the assholes trying to run the Biden campaign bus off the road in Texas. They're the anti-government militias in Michigan. They're these people:
There's nothing "shy" about these people or their support for Trump, yet pollsters aren't catching them. They turn out for Trump, but they didn't turn out for Republicans in 2017, 2018, or 2019. Remember, last year Democrats picked up governorships in the blood-red states of Louisiana and Kentucky.
No amount of personal begging and pleading from Trump could get Republicans to the polls in those red states, nor did his extensive campaigning help his party during the 2018 Democratic wave year.
Yet with the national environment only worsened from the COVID-19 pandemic and other Trump self-inflicted wounds (like his failed trade war against China), Republicans stormed back this year, dealing Democrats painful down-ballot losses in the House, Senate, and state legislatures. Not only will those loses hamstring a Biden administration, even if we win both Senate runoffs in Georgia in January, but Republicans will have a free hand to redraw U.S. House and state legislative maps to their enduring, decades-long advantage.
All because Trump was at the top of the ballot.
So again, who are these people who only vote for Trump, otherwise ignore the Republican Party (despite Trump's pleading), and don't talk to pollsters?
The hidden deplorables aren't Republican. They aren't even conservative. They're apolitical, otherwise ignoring politics, because their lives legitimately suck. They live in meth country, with dim job prospects (in fact, those two factors are highly correlated). Institutions have failed them—corporations abandoned them for cheaper labor overseas, government seems and feels distant, and it's certainly not improving their lives. Cities feel like walled gardens—unattainable, unaffordable, yet that's where all the jobs are, the culture, the action. These deplorables have been left behind. So their attitude? "Fuck them all."
Trump shows up in 2016 and gives them hope for change, saying the quiet part out loud—that their lives suck not because of their own choices and that of those decamped corporations, but because all that sweet, sweet government money is going to "illegals" and "thugs" in those cities. He puts uppity Black and brown people and women in their place. He offers them hope that, if he can't improve their lives, that at least he'll hurt all those others.
"I voted for him, and he's the one who's doing this," she said of Mr. Trump. "I thought he was going to do good things. He's not hurting the people he needs to be hurting."
Their lives suck, but Trump was supposed to be bringing everyone else down to their level. That's why all that nonsense about "economic uncertainty" was such bullshit. None of these people ever thought Trump would bring back the factories, paying good middle-class wages. They can do the same math that the corporations have. But it would all be worth it if Trump would just hurt the people he needed to be hurt.
And then he did. He put brown kids in cages. He sent federal troops against the Black Lives Matter "mobs." He nominated judges hostile to a woman's right to have agency over her body.
And above else? He destroyed. He tore shit down. Norms, traditions, entire agencies.
So 2020 rolled around, and Trump no longer offered hope of economic revival in these economically devastated meth counties. Instead, he was the personification of their rage made real, in the Oval Office itself.
We saw this in Georgia, where Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Rep. Doug Collins were locked in a battle to make it to the January runoff in the state's special election. Loeffler was originally chosen to try and appeal to the very white moderate college-educated suburban women that were abandoning the GOP and endangering the party's electoral chances. Collins is a right-wing ideologue, a staunch Trump ally, and the clear favorite of the Freedom Caucus wing of the GOP. So how did Loeffler fend him off? By moving to Collins' right, like this ad that claimed she was "More conservative than Attila the Hun" and had a "100 per cent Trump voting record."
Attila youtu.be
Loeffler literally said she was worse than a king best known for raping, pillaging, plundering, and extorting the Roman Empire into near insolvency. There are no Hun ruins you can visit today because they built no civilization, created no lasting art or culture.
So truly, Loeffler couldn't have picked a better representative of the modern Trumpian Republican Party—destructive, barbaric, and corrupt.
Now given their hatred for institutions like government and the media, is it any wonder that these hidden deplorables wouldn't answer pollsters' questions? Any attempt to survey them would likely be met with a middle finger and a "fuck you."
So the last four years have shown us that they only turn out when Donald Trump is in the battle. We'll have an early test of my Hidden Deplorables theory in January, when the two Senate seats in Georgia are decided. Given the essentially tied result in the presidential race (we won by a sliver), that special election will come down to the party that suffers the last amount of drop-off from their November turnout.
Trump got a remarkable 369,000 more votes in the Peach State this year compared to 2016, when he won the state by 5%. That should've been enough to seal the deal again. Yet Stacey Abrams, her volunteers, and an army of allied organizations did the near-impossible: Biden got 594,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton did in 2016. That is beyond mind-blowing!
If I'm right, Republican turnout among those new Trump voters could very well be catastrophic for the GOP. Now to be clear, no one should expect this. We assume they get every single one of their voters out. We need to out-hustle them, and they'll be working their assess off to turn those people out. So to be 100% clear, this isn't a prediction, nor is it even a hope.
If Republicans can get these hidden deplorables out, then the political picture the next few cycles will be rough—more closely fought elections, control of Congress and the White House balancing on a razor's edge. Making progress will be a tough slog.
On the other hand, if the hidden deplorables only come out when Trump is on the ballot, then that gives us some breathing room in the next few cycles ahead. That is, until a Trump ends up back on the presidential ballot in 2024.
Now this is an evolving theory, and it may be bolstered or undermined as additional data and information emerges (not to mention the Georgia runoff results will reveal a great deal). But regardless, Trump is likely the single greatest campaigner in modern presidential history. Hillary Clinton didn't lose because she was a terrible candidate, she lost because she faced a political prodigy, someone whose ability to tickle the darkest recesses of the white American's lizard brain is unparalleled, in a country that doesn't elect its presidents by popular vote, but by a system that overrepresents white rural states. Joe Biden cobbled together enough of a coalition to defeat Trump, but the damage was deep down-ballot precisely because so many of the House, Senate, and state legislative battles were fought in disproportionately white and rural states and districts—the places most excited by Trump's candidacy.
So take a man who has criminally mismanaged the country, enriching himself at the expense of its people and his donors, killed a quarter million Americans due to negligence, leading to the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression, and didn't even bother to have a campaign platform because neither he nor his party cares about issues anymore … and he gets 10 million more votes than the last time? That number is a testament to his power as a vote-getter. Let's hope no other Republicans reverse engineers that formula anytime soon. And let's pray that these hidden deplorables, seeing their vote cast for a loser (and a loser who claims the vote was stolen!) decide to return to whatever dark crevices they emerged from.


alternet--2020-11-17--Donald Trump campaign must pay $7.9 million for Wisconsin recount — and the deadline is Wednesday: r

Donald Trump campaign must pay $7.9 million for Wisconsin recount — and the deadline is Wednesday: report

President Donald Trump said that he wants a recount in Wisconsin after losing the state by about 20,500 votes .
But if he wants the recount he 'll have to pony up almost $ 8 million .
The Associated Press reported Monday that the price tag is `` four times higher than what the recount cost four years ago , a cost increase that elections officials said was driven by expenses related to conducting a recount during the coronavirus pandemic . ''
To make matters more difficult , Trump needs to come up with the money and pay for it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If the state is smart they 'll ask for the money upfront .
Trump is notorious for not paying municipalities for the security costs he incurred while campaigning in their cities and towns .
As of this summer , Trump racked up over $ 2 million in unpaid security costs to police departments that he has refused to pay over the past several years .
He maintains that the Secret Service pays for it , but when it 's a campaign event , the USSS does n't foot the bill , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have not received any indication that there will or will not be a recount , '' said chief election official Meagan Wolfe .
`` But we want Wisconsin 's voters to know we are ready . ''
Read the full report at the AP .

President Donald Trump said that he wants a recount in Wisconsin after losing the state by about 20,500 votes. But if he wants the recount he'll have to pony up almost $8 million.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the price tag is "four times higher than what the recount cost four years ago, a cost increase that elections officials said was driven by expenses related to conducting a recount during the coronavirus pandemic."
To make matters more difficult, Trump needs to come up with the money and pay for it by 5 p.m. Wednesday at the latest. If the state is smart they'll ask for the money upfront.
Trump is notorious for not paying municipalities for the security costs he incurred while campaigning in their cities and towns. As of this summer, Trump racked up over $2 million in unpaid security costs to police departments that he has refused to pay over the past several years. He maintains that the Secret Service pays for it, but when it's a campaign event, the USSS doesn't foot the bill, the campaign has to.
"We still have not received any indication that there will or will not be a recount," said chief election official Meagan Wolfe. "But we want Wisconsin's voters to know we are ready."
Read the full report at the AP.


alternet--2020-11-18--Congressman demands investigation of Donald Trump's ‘innumerable crimes against the United States’

In a statement on Tuesday , Rep. Bill Pascrell ( D-NJ ) called for a broad , sweeping Justice Department investigation into outgoing President Donald Trump in the coming year .
`` Donald Trump and members of his administration have committed innumerable crimes against the United States , '' said Pascrell .
`` He has endangered our national security .
He ripped families apart .
He poisoned the Census .
He has personally profited from his office .
He has attacked our elections and sought to throttle democracy .
He was rightly impeached by the House of Representatives .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He has all but given up on governing and protecting our nation and if he had a shred of dignity he would resign today . ''
`` Therefore , in 2021 the entire Trump administration must be fully investigated by the Department of Justice and any other relevant offices .
Donald Trump along with his worst enablers must be tried for their crimes against our nation and Constitution , '' added Pascrell .
`` There must be accountability . ''
According to NBC News , President-elect Joe Biden does not intend to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trump , wanting to turn a page on Trump 's repeated attempts to weaponize federal prosecutors against his political opponents .

In a statement on Tuesday, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) called for a broad, sweeping Justice Department investigation into outgoing President Donald Trump in the coming year.
"Donald Trump and members of his administration have committed innumerable crimes against the United States," said Pascrell. "He has endangered our national security. He ripped families apart. He poisoned the Census. He has personally profited from his office. He has attacked our elections and sought to throttle democracy. He was rightly impeached by the House of Representatives. He has engaged in treachery, in treason. He has all but given up on governing and protecting our nation and if he had a shred of dignity he would resign today."
"Therefore, in 2021 the entire Trump administration must be fully investigated by the Department of Justice and any other relevant offices. Donald Trump along with his worst enablers must be tried for their crimes against our nation and Constitution," added Pascrell. "There must be accountability."
According to NBC News, President-elect Joe Biden does not intend to pressure the DOJ to pursue criminal investigations of Trump, wanting to turn a page on Trump's repeated attempts to weaponize federal prosecutors against his political opponents.


alternet--2020-11-18--‘The truth won’: Michigan Secretary of State praises certification as Trump rants on Twitter

On Tuesday 's edition of CNN 's `` Cuomo Prime Time , '' Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson praised the decision of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers to reverse the previous partisan ruling of its two Republican members blocking certification for ballots from the city of Detroit , a move that sparked nationwide outrage .
`` It appears that the truth won in this scenario , based on basically , the evidence is clear there were no irregularities , there was no evidence of widespread fraud , and in fact there were simply minor clerical errors , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ errors than in past elections , '' said Benson .
`` And that really is n't a valid reason in my view , and apparently ultimately the board , to invalidate and silence the voice of voters in the state 's largest county . ''
As Benson spoke , President Donald Trump — who had minutes before erroneously cheered on the denial of certification after it had already been reversed — furiously took to Twitter to rage against the immediate turn of fortune , falsely claiming that Detroit was trying to certify `` @ @ @ @ @ @

On Tuesday's edition of CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson praised the decision of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers to reverse the previous partisan ruling of its two Republican members blocking certification for ballots from the city of Detroit, a move that sparked nationwide outrage.
"It appears that the truth won in this scenario, based on basically, the evidence is clear there were no irregularities, there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and in fact there were simply minor clerical errors, as we were discussing, actually less clerical errors than in past elections," said Benson. "And that really isn't a valid reason in my view, and apparently ultimately the board, to invalidate and silence the voice of voters in the state's largest county."
As Benson spoke, President Donald Trump — who had minutes before erroneously cheered on the denial of certification after it had already been reversed — furiously took to Twitter to rage against the immediate turn of fortune, falsely claiming that Detroit was trying to certify "more votes than people."


alternet--2020-11-18--Amy Coney Barrett's husband plans to continue private practice — raising serious ethical concerns

Jesse Barrett , husband of newly confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett , recently said he will continue private practice despite the ethical concerns that may arise due to his wife 's new position .
On the SouthBake Legal website , there is a congratulatory statement to the new Supreme Court justice .
It also details what Jesse Barrett 's near future holds .
`` SouthBank Legal enthusiastically congratulates Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett on her confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States , '' the statement began .
The statement , which commended Jesse Barrett @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he will continue private practice .
It later added , `` SouthBank Legal also congratulates Justice Barrett 's family , in particular her husband , Jesse .
Since joining SouthBank Legal two years ago , Jesse has broadened the firm 's commercial litigation expertise , while building an impressive white-collar defense practice .
Like Justice Barrett , Jesse has top-shelf legal ability , a relentless work ethic , and a resolute commitment to his professional obligations .
About his practice , Jesse commented , ' I look forward to continuing to help grow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups and serve our clients . '
'' Spouses of justices often leave private practice once their significant other is confirmed to serve on the highest court in the land .
However , that will not be the case for the Barrett family .
Michael Frisch , ethics counsel and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center , noted that `` Barrett , like his wife , has not practiced in front of the U.S. Supreme Court , which would be an `` obvious '' conflict of interest . ''

Jesse Barrett, husband of newly confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, recently said he will continue private practice despite the ethical concerns that may arise due to his wife's new position.
On the SouthBake Legal website, there is a congratulatory statement to the new Supreme Court justice. It also details what Jesse Barrett's near future holds.
"SouthBank Legal enthusiastically congratulates Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett on her confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States," the statement began.
The statement, which commended Jesse Barrett for his work, also suggested that he will continue private practice.
It later added, "SouthBank Legal also congratulates Justice Barrett's family, in particular her husband, Jesse. Since joining SouthBank Legal two years ago, Jesse has broadened the firm's commercial litigation expertise, while building an impressive white-collar defense practice. Like Justice Barrett, Jesse has top-shelf legal ability, a relentless work ethic, and a resolute commitment to his professional obligations. About his practice, Jesse commented, 'I look forward to continuing to help grow and lead SouthBank Legal's litigation-related practice groups and serve our clients.'"
Spouses of justices often leave private practice once their significant other is confirmed to serve on the highest court in the land. However, that will not be the case for the Barrett family. Michael Frisch, ethics counsel and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, noted that "Barrett, like his wife, has not practiced in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, which would be an "obvious" conflict of interest."


alternet--2020-11-18--Graham's pressure campaign to throw out ballots may have violated federal law: legal experts

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , a Republican , on Monday said Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham , R-S.C. , and other GOP lawmakers had pressured him to exclude legally cast absentee ballots as the state conducts a hand recount of its presidential election .
Raffensperger over the weekend issued a surprisingly forceful rebuke of the election misinformation pushed by Trump and Rep. Doug Collins , R-Ga. , who is leading the campaign 's recount effort in the Georgia .
The secretary of state said Georgia 's recount would `` affirm '' the initial result , which showed President-elect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ votes .
Graham , who has echoed Trump 's baseless claims sowing doubt in the results of the election , asked Raffensperger on Friday about the state 's signature-matching law , which has been the target of misinformation from the president , the secretary of state told The Washington Post .
Here 's how the outlet described Raffensperger 's account of the conversation : Graham denied the allegations , calling Raffensperger 's characterization of their discussion `` ridiculous . ''
`` If he feels threatened by that conversation , he 's got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` I actually thought it was a good conversation . ''
But Raffensperger told The Wall Street Journal that Graham had placed two calls to his office , adding that staffers were present on the second occasion .
`` I 'm asking him to explain to me the system , '' Graham told The Hill .
`` If you send a mail-in ballot to a county , a single person verifies the signature against what 's in the database .
They do n't mail out ballots .
You got to actually request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and how you verify the signature , to me , is the big issue of mail-in voting . ''
Graham later admitted that he had also called officials in Arizona and Nevada as a senator concerned about the integrity of the election .
On the same day that Graham spoke to Raffensperger , Lin Wood , an Atlanta attorney and Trump supporter , filed a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of the election results until all absentee ballot envelopes could be inspected .
Trump also targeted Raffensperger over the signature-matching rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a so-called Republican ( RINO ) , wo n't let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud , '' the lame-duck president wrote on Twitter .
`` Why ?
Without this the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless .
Everyone knows that we won the state . ''
Raffensperger , whose election was backed by Trump , clarified that the consent decree not only allowed election clerks to check signatures but also required them to be matched twice before a ballot is cast .
He added that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ envelope signature to the one on the ballot , which would potentially expose the identity of individual voters .
`` It does n't matter what political party or which campaign does that , '' Raffensperger told The Post .
`` The secrecy of the vote is sacred . ''
Raffensperger doubled down on his allegations about Graham during a Monday interview with CNN .
`` It was just an implication of , 'Look hard , and see how many ballots you could throw out , ' '' he said .
The revelations prompted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be investigated Democratic lawyer Marc Elias called for Graham to be probed by the Senate Ethics Committee over the `` outrageous '' allegations .
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner went one step farther .
`` Remember when Graham said , 'use my words against me ' ? ''
he asked .
`` It looks like that time has come .
A grand jury investigation into Graham MUST be initiated . ''
`` Whatever a probe reveals , it would n't be necessary for Graham to have committed a crime to say his conduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the former director of the Office of Government Ethics , tweeted .
`` There 's no defending a Senate Judiciary chair calling a state 's top election official during the counting to brainstorm ways not to count legally cast votes .
Politicians from the other side of the aisle also raised concerns about the possible criminality of Graham 's actions .
`` This is insane and illegal , '' Rep. Ilhan Omar , D-Minn. , said .
Reps. Pramila Jayapal , D-Wash. , and Rashida Tlaib , D-Mich. , suggested that Graham 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
`` Senator Graham pressuring the Ga. SoS to throw out legally cast ballots is morally reprehensible , and possibly a federal crime , '' Rep. Kathleen Rice , D-N.Y. , tweeted .
`` If true , he should resign from the Senate immediately . ''
Raffensperger reserved his harshest criticism for Collins , who is leading Trump 's recount effort in the Georgia after losing finishing third in his Senate race .
The secretary of state called Collins a `` failed candidate '' and a `` liar '' for his attempts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the election .
`` I 'm an engineer .
We look at numbers .
We look at hard data , '' Raffensperger said .
`` I ca n't help it that a failed candidate like Collins is running around lying to everyone .
He 's a liar . ''
The attacks from within his own party have led to death threats , Raffensperger told The Post .
One text he received read , `` You better not botch this recount .
Your life depends on it . ''
`` Other than getting you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' the Republican official said , `` particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle .
Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech .
We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say . ''
Rep. Steve Cohen , D-Tenn. , praised Raffensperger for `` doing his job '' and `` defending '' democracy despite receiving `` death threats '' and `` vitriol . ''
Raffensperger told CNN that he would not step down or be bullied , even though he is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I 'm going to probably be disappointed , because I was rooting for the Republicans to win , obviously , '' he said .
`` But I have a process .
I have a law that I follow .
Integrity , in this office , matters . ''

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, on Monday said Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and other GOP lawmakers had pressured him to exclude legally cast absentee ballots as the state conducts a hand recount of its presidential election.
Raffensperger over the weekend issued a surprisingly forceful rebuke of the election misinformation pushed by Trump and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., who is leading the campaign's recount effort in the Georgia. The secretary of state said Georgia's recount would "affirm" the initial result, which showed President-elect Joe Biden leading by more than 10,000 votes.
Graham, who has echoed Trump's baseless claims sowing doubt in the results of the election, asked Raffensperger on Friday about the state's signature-matching law, which has been the target of misinformation from the president, the secretary of state told The Washington Post.
Here's how the outlet described Raffensperger's account of the conversation:
Graham questioned Raffensperger about the state's signature-matching law and whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with nonmatching signatures, according to Raffensperger. Graham also asked whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures, Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger said he was stunned that Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally cast ballots. Absent court intervention, Raffensperger doesn't have the power to do what Graham suggested because counties administer elections in Georgia.
"It sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road," Raffensperger said.
Graham denied the allegations, calling Raffensperger's characterization of their discussion "ridiculous."
"If he feels threatened by that conversation, he's got a problem," Graham told The Post. "I actually thought it was a good conversation."
But Raffensperger told The Wall Street Journal that Graham had placed two calls to his office, adding that staffers were present on the second occasion.
"I'm asking him to explain to me the system," Graham told The Hill. "If you send a mail-in ballot to a county, a single person verifies the signature against what's in the database. They don't mail out ballots. You got to actually request one. So they expanded mail-in voting, and how you verify the signature, to me, is the big issue of mail-in voting."
Graham later admitted that he had also called officials in Arizona and Nevada as a senator concerned about the integrity of the election.
On the same day that Graham spoke to Raffensperger, Lin Wood, an Atlanta attorney and Trump supporter, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the certification of the election results until all absentee ballot envelopes could be inspected. Trump also targeted Raffensperger over the signature-matching rules.
"Georgia Secretary of State, a so-called Republican (RINO), won't let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud," the lame-duck president wrote on Twitter. "Why? Without this the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless. Everyone knows that we won the state."
Raffensperger, whose election was backed by Trump, clarified that the consent decree not only allowed election clerks to check signatures but also required them to be matched twice before a ballot is cast. He added that Wood's lawsuit sought to match the envelope signature to the one on the ballot, which would potentially expose the identity of individual voters.
"It doesn't matter what political party or which campaign does that," Raffensperger told The Post. "The secrecy of the vote is sacred."
Raffensperger doubled down on his allegations about Graham during a Monday interview with CNN.
"It was just an implication of, 'Look hard, and see how many ballots you could throw out,'" he said.
The revelations prompted calls by legal experts for Graham to be investigated
Democratic lawyer Marc Elias called for Graham to be probed by the Senate Ethics Committee over the "outrageous" allegations. Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner went one step farther.
"Remember when Graham said, 'use my words against me'?" he asked. "It looks like that time has come. A grand jury investigation into Graham MUST be initiated."
"Whatever a probe reveals, it wouldn't be necessary for Graham to have committed a crime to say his conduct was unethical," Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, tweeted. "There's no defending a Senate Judiciary chair calling a state's top election official during the counting to brainstorm ways not to count legally cast votes.
Politicians from the other side of the aisle also raised concerns about the possible criminality of Graham's actions.
"This is insane and illegal," Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., suggested that Graham's alleged comments amounted to "voter fraud."
"Senator Graham pressuring the Ga. SoS to throw out legally cast ballots is morally reprehensible, and possibly a federal crime," Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., tweeted. "If true, he should resign from the Senate immediately."
Raffensperger reserved his harshest criticism for Collins, who is leading Trump's recount effort in the Georgia after losing finishing third in his Senate race. The secretary of state called Collins a "failed candidate" and a "liar" for his attempts to sow doubt in the results of the election.
"I'm an engineer. We look at numbers. We look at hard data," Raffensperger said. "I can't help it that a failed candidate like Collins is running around lying to everyone. He's a liar."
The attacks from within his own party have led to death threats, Raffensperger told The Post. One text he received read, "You better not botch this recount. Your life depends on it."
"Other than getting you angry, it's also very disillusioning," the Republican official said, "particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle. Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say."
Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., praised Raffensperger for "doing his job" and "defending" democracy despite receiving "death threats" and "vitriol."
Raffensperger told CNN that he would not step down or be bullied, even though he is personally unhappy with the election result.
"I'm going to probably be disappointed, because I was rooting for the Republicans to win, obviously," he said. "But I have a process. I have a law that I follow. Integrity, in this office, matters."


alternet--2020-11-18--The phantom fears of Trump supporters haunt the Georgia presidential election audit

By 7 a.m. on Saturday , November 14 , the windowless , cavernous hall six flights below street level at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta was bustling .
Hundreds of county government employees wearing face masks were seated in pairs at 170 tables with pens , forms and bottles of hand sanitizer .
They had come to manually count every vote for president in Fulton County , the epicenter of Joe Biden 's still unofficial 14,000-vote victory over President Trump .
Their task was sorting and counting more than half-a-million paper ballots cast in Georgia 's most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties , campaigns and voting rights groups roved , watched and sometimes leered , the assembled librarians , social workers and other civil servants proceeded .
They started by first counting absentee ballots , where voters filled in ovals next to a candidate 's name .
By midday , they turned to votes cast in person on Georgia 's new voting system , where voters used a touch screen to make their choices and a ballot was printed out with their votes in readable text and a scannable code .
`` It could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing , '' Matthew Tyler , a broad-shouldered man and victim-witness advocate for the Fulton County District Attorney 's office , said afterward .
`` I count them three times .
I count them five times .
I am happy to spend my weekend like this . ''
Throughout the day , supervisors wheeled suitcase-like storage cases to his table and the other counting stations .
Reams of paper ballots were taken out .
The ballots first were sorted into piles by the presidential choice .
The piles were then counted and stacked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finished , an orange reporting sheet for that batch was filled out .
The supervisor brought it to an official at a computer at one side of the hall , who sent each batch 's results to Georgia 's secretary of state .
`` I just think that democracy is so serious and so reverent , '' Tyler said , reflecting on a process that was slow , steady and careful .
`` As a young Black man , I know that so many people died before me literally for the right to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I take it very personally . ''
Tyler was n't the only one taking the next phase in Georgia 's election personally .
Two days earlier , Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , a Republican with an engineering background , abruptly decided that the state 's 159 counties could not do a statistical audit required by a 2019 law that he had helped write .
The audit 's goal was ensuring that the electronics in a new statewide voting system were accurately counting the hand- and machine-marked paper ballots .
That statistical process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , is not the same as a recount—which comes later and only if the official results are close .
A recount is a different legal process , one where candidates ' lawyers can challenge the ballots .
An audit is not adversarial , but more of a quality-control exercise .
Georgia 's RLA was promoted as an efficient way to double-check vote counts .
If the results are not close , several hundred randomly chosen ballots can assess the vote-counting accuracy in a big urban county .
But because 14,000 votes divided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly 5 million votes in the state , the mathematical efficiencies evaporated .
Raffensperger 's decision to manually count every ballot to satisfy the state 's RLA law left almost everyone involved in the process feeling some heat .
After the hand count was announced , Raffensperger was attacked by President Trump .
Georgia 's two Republican senators called for his resignation .
Trump supporters followed the cues from Trump 's tweets and Fox News ' hosts who stridently supported the president , including some supporters who converged on Fulton County 's audit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observers .
Meanwhile , the county 's election officials had work to do .
`` We were preparing for an RLA on Thursday , which probably would have pulled 200 to 250 ballots , '' Fulton County Registration and Elections Director Richard Barron recounted at a press conference on Sunday , November 15 .
`` We found out on Wednesday that we were going to do a full hand tally [ of ] 528,777 ballots .
That 's quite a difference from 200 to 250 .
To put this together that quickly was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were not the only ones scrambling .
Local supporters of President Trump—assisted by a longtime election integrity activist and critic of Georgia 's voting systems , including its newest system , Garland Favorito of Voter GA—were determined to find evidence that could be used in court to challenge Biden 's win .
On Friday , November 13 , as the Congress Center was being set up , Favorito , a retired information technology professional , issued a statement saying that he saw Biden 's total jump ahead by 20,000 votes—while Trump 's decreased @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were updated .
He wanted to see data transmission logs , saying a programming error of the same voting system in a rural Michigan county had `` erroneously swapped '' 6,000 votes from Trump to Biden .
The Michigan incident , which was caught and corrected , alarmed Trump supporters and became part of a growing partisan narrative that unseen dark forces had stolen the election from the president .
By midday Saturday , Favorito and a dozen pro-Trump observers had seen enough to confirm what they had feared and believed , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tipped the scales for Biden .
As the hand counting proceeded , they saw stacks of ballots on counting stations that were almost entirely for Biden .
Few Trump votes were piled up .
( Fulton County 's latest results , posted a day before the audit , showed Biden had 72.65 percent and Trump had 26.16 percent of the vote . )
Favorito said he and his monitors had been tracking this trend all morning .
`` I live in Fulton County .
That 's ballot box stuffing , '' he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fulton County that 's going to be 100 percent for Joe Biden or even 99 percent .
Seventy-thirty , maybe .
Eighty-twenty ?
Something 's wrong . ''
After walking through the rows of tables , Garland 's team of a dozen observers had been noting which counting stations had the disproportionate piles .
They were not allowed to talk to the audit board workers .
They copied the ballot batch numbers on the storage cases .
After taking notes , a small group huddled on the side .
`` I do n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are huge discrepancies , '' said the wife of a GOP legislator who did n't want her name used .
`` I 've written the precincts down , '' she said .
`` There is no way in hell that 's correct , '' replied Favorito , who was usually soft-spoken and courtly .
`` I 've taken pictures , '' she continued , pulling out a legal pad .
`` These are all of my batch numbers where I saw huge discrepancies . ''
How did they know that these were discrepancies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Favorito said .
`` Is there a Republican lawyer here , Garland ? ''
the legislator 's wife asked .
Another woman ( who did n't want to be named ) broke into the conversation .
At one table , she said that the absentee ballots looked `` too white and they did n't look like they were crinkled at all—like they did n't go through a machine or anything . ''
`` Did you write that down ? ''
Favorito asked .
`` That has to be a legal challenge . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ women said that they did not fully understand what they were seeing .
They were flustered that they could not ask the counters any questions .
They did not trust the county election officials , who they suspected somehow had fabricated ballots .
They did not seem to realize that the audit was a small part of a larger post-Election Day sequence .
They believed that the audit boards were accurately counting ballots , but they did n't trust the ballots .
The audit 's narrowly focused tasks flustered other Trump supporters who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump attacked Raffensperger on Twitter , calling him a `` RINO '' —Republican in name only—and said that he `` wo n't let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud , '' which is not part of this audit 's process .
Ballots do not have signatures on them .
Absentee ballot return envelopes have signatures and other identifying information that is verified before the ballots are taken out and counted .
That two-step process ensures that one 's ballot remains secret , and it occurred before the November @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' groused another woman .
`` They do n't do the audit of the signature to match the mail-in ballot ?
So why are they counting ? ''
When it was pointed out that the signature verification was done earlier , she replied , `` How do they explain dead people voting then ? ''
When asked to explain how she knew if votes had been cast in the names of the deceased , she replied , `` How do you know they were n't ? ''
After a pause , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other countries .
Come on , is America the first country where dead people do n't vote ?
This happens in every country . ''
`` There were people who voted in this election who were over 100 years old , '' said David Turner , a computer programmer and colleague of Favorito 's .
`` They died years ago .
But their names [ are on voter rolls ] .
They [ state officials ] have n't cleaned up the database , the voter rolls .
They [ dead people ] keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ audit , Fox News ' Tucker Carlson apologized on air , saying , `` One of the people who voted in last week 's [ Georgia ] election is n't dead… A whole bunch of dead people did vote… but James Blalock was not among them .
… So apologies for that and of course we 're always going to correct when we 're wrong . ''
Claims of fraudulent voting are neither new nor confined to Fulton County , where election officials rejected the allegations of fabricated ballots sullying the process .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been promoted by Republicans for many years .
They have been raised in Trump 's post-election litigation and have been widely rejected by numerous state and federal judges .
The angst behind these accusations is clearly born of frustration that their candidate did not emerge victorious in Georgia 's first unofficial presidential election results .
However , the perception that Fulton County was counting illegally manufactured ballots—because there were much bigger piles of Biden votes and seemingly too few Trump votes—deserves scrutiny .
It turns out that these partisan observers misunderstood what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of ballots brought to the counting tables were not all of the votes that had been cast in a neighborhood , explained several county election officials on November 15 .
However , the Trump supporters assumed that every labeled batch of ballots represented a local neighborhood 's precinct .
`` They do n't necessarily correspond to the precincts , '' Barron said , at a press conference .
`` The reason that they are not sorted by precinct is that Fulton County had much higher percentages of absentee [ ballots ] and [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jessica Corbitt , Fulton County 's director of external affairs .
`` Over 80 percent of our voters cast their ballot before Election Day .
Those processes , especially in early voting , [ are ] where the bulk of the votes were cast .
At State Farm Arena , more than 30,000 people voted .
So every 3,000 or so votes , you batch the ballots . ''
Across Fulton County , voters from the same neighborhood chose different ways to cast their ballots .
Some people voted early at the in-person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that were bundled as they came in .
Some people returned their mailed-out absentee ballot in the mail , which was vetted and counted separately .
Some people did not trust mail delivery , so they took their absentee ballot to a voting center , where it was canceled , and they used the new touch screen system .
Some people waited until Election Day and voted in person at a local precinct .
In other words , the Trump supporters mistakenly assumed that they were seeing all of the ballots from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What they were seeing , instead , were piles from different slices of the process .
`` We had 30 early voting locations all over the county , '' Corbitt said .
`` The Alpharetta Library was the second-highest [ turnout ] , which was in a more Republican-voting part of the county .
There are a lot of stereotypes of where people in different parties live .
One of these stacks somewhere [ in this hall ] is the Alpharetta Library… Across the county , we had high turnout , high @ @ @ @ @ @ @ participation . ''
Corbitt 's explanation was unlikely to sway Trump supporters—who had other complaints .
A young reporter for America 's Voice , a conservative outlet , said that she did not trust county employees to accurately count votes because they most likely were Democrats .
She asked Barron at the November 15 press conference why he had n't assembled more bipartisan teams .
The county election director said that he turned to county employees and precinct managers to quickly assemble hundreds of needed workers and to minimize the county 's cost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that election observers are not always familiar with the intricacies of the process that they came to observe .
`` Some of it is genuine misunderstanding , '' Corbitt said .
`` Not everyone is an election professional .
Not everyone has the same experience observing elections .
If someone is relatively new to this , it is a relatively multifaceted process .
I think there 's a lot of innocent misunderstanding .
I do think there is intentional misinformation , which is what I 'm more concerned about .
I think that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people just do n't know , we are more than willing to be transparent and explain the process . ''
Favorito said that the hand count , as far as it went , was a step in the right direction .
Fulton County was on track to finish counting on November 15—sooner than expected .
Across the state , one-third of the counties had finished .
The rest faced a late November 18 deadline .
`` I 'm really pleased that the secretary ordered the full hand count , '' Favorito said afterward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump supporters and observers ] who do n't understand that this is the first step in the process .
The first step is to verify the electronic totals are correct .
Then we have to decide if there are illegal ballots , and how to challenge them .
That 's the next step . ''
Other election integrity activists from out of state had sharper criticisms of Georgia 's hand count audit—such as asking why it could n't produce easily understood precinct-based vote results , and why hand count totals were being input @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent to the secretary of state to compile , which seemed at cross-purposes to counting every paper ballot by hand .
But answering those questions would wait until after 2020 's elections were finished .
In the meantime , Favorito had another worry .
A colleague , Scott Hall , had stayed up until 2 a.m. on November 15 to crunch Fulton County 's voter registration data .
After Barron 's press conference , he held forth with reporters for PBS NewsHour , the New York Times and right-wing outlets and insisted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents voted more than once for president .
`` I 've heard that gentleman who was one of the observers , '' Corbitt said .
`` We obviously do n't believe that 's true .
I 'm sure you knew that . ''
Several hours later , Hall reran the numbers and retracted his assertion , Favorito said .
`` We were collecting evidence , and he goes and blurts it out before we confirmed it . ''
Georgia 's deadline to certify 2020 's election results is Friday , November 20 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ close races can request a recount .
That 's a different procedure , legally , from the audit .
If there is a recount , each county 's paper ballots would be counted by high-speed electronic scanners .
Steven Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent of Voting Booth , a project of the Independent Media Institute .
He has reported for National Public Radio , Marketplace , and Christian Science Monitor Radio , as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon , AlterNet , the American Prospect , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Voting Booth , a project of the Independent Media Institute .

By 7 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, the windowless, cavernous hall six flights below street level at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta was bustling. Hundreds of county government employees wearing face masks were seated in pairs at 170 tables with pens, forms and bottles of hand sanitizer. They had come to manually count every vote for president in Fulton County, the epicenter of Joe Biden's still unofficial 14,000-vote victory over President Trump.
Their task was sorting and counting more than half-a-million paper ballots cast in Georgia's most populous county. As observers from political parties, campaigns and voting rights groups roved, watched and sometimes leered, the assembled librarians, social workers and other civil servants proceeded.
They started by first counting absentee ballots, where voters filled in ovals next to a candidate's name. By midday, they turned to votes cast in person on Georgia's new voting system, where voters used a touch screen to make their choices and a ballot was printed out with their votes in readable text and a scannable code.
"It couldn't be more transparent what we are doing," Matthew Tyler, a broad-shouldered man and victim-witness advocate for the Fulton County District Attorney's office, said afterward. "I count them three times. I count them five times. I am happy to spend my weekend like this."
Throughout the day, supervisors wheeled suitcase-like storage cases to his table and the other counting stations. Reams of paper ballots were taken out. The ballots first were sorted into piles by the presidential choice. The piles were then counted and stacked 10 ballots at a time. When finished, an orange reporting sheet for that batch was filled out. The supervisor brought it to an official at a computer at one side of the hall, who sent each batch's results to Georgia's secretary of state.
"I just think that democracy is so serious and so reverent," Tyler said, reflecting on a process that was slow, steady and careful. "As a young Black man, I know that so many people died before me literally for the right to vote. It's my responsibility. I take it very personally."
Tyler wasn't the only one taking the next phase in Georgia's election personally. Two days earlier, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican with an engineering background, abruptly decided that the state's 159 counties could not do a statistical audit required by a 2019 law that he had helped write. The audit's goal was ensuring that the electronics in a new statewide voting system were accurately counting the hand- and machine-marked paper ballots.
That statistical process, called a risk-limiting audit (RLA), is not the same as a recount—which comes later and only if the official results are close. A recount is a different legal process, one where candidates' lawyers can challenge the ballots. An audit is not adversarial, but more of a quality-control exercise.
Georgia's RLA was promoted as an efficient way to double-check vote counts. If the results are not close, several hundred randomly chosen ballots can assess the vote-counting accuracy in a big urban county. But because 14,000 votes divided Biden and Trump in an election of nearly 5 million votes in the state, the mathematical efficiencies evaporated. Raffensperger's decision to manually count every ballot to satisfy the state's RLA law left almost everyone involved in the process feeling some heat.
After the hand count was announced, Raffensperger was attacked by President Trump. Georgia's two Republican senators called for his resignation. Trump supporters followed the cues from Trump's tweets and Fox News' hosts who stridently supported the president, including some supporters who converged on Fulton County's audit with credentials as Republican and Libertarian Party observers. Meanwhile, the county's election officials had work to do.
"We were preparing for an RLA on Thursday, which probably would have pulled 200 to 250 ballots," Fulton County Registration and Elections Director Richard Barron recounted at a press conference on Sunday, November 15. "We found out on Wednesday that we were going to do a full hand tally [of] 528,777 ballots. That's quite a difference from 200 to 250. To put this together that quickly was onerous."
But Barron's staff were not the only ones scrambling. Local supporters of President Trump—assisted by a longtime election integrity activist and critic of Georgia's voting systems, including its newest system, Garland Favorito of Voter GA—were determined to find evidence that could be used in court to challenge Biden's win.
On Friday, November 13, as the Congress Center was being set up, Favorito, a retired information technology professional, issued a statement saying that he saw Biden's total jump ahead by 20,000 votes—while Trump's decreased by 1,000 votes—as Fulton County's results were updated. He wanted to see data transmission logs, saying a programming error of the same voting system in a rural Michigan county had "erroneously swapped" 6,000 votes from Trump to Biden.
The Michigan incident, which was caught and corrected, alarmed Trump supporters and became part of a growing partisan narrative that unseen dark forces had stolen the election from the president.
Skeptical Observers
By midday Saturday, Favorito and a dozen pro-Trump observers had seen enough to confirm what they had feared and believed, that Georgia's most vote-rich county had nefariously tipped the scales for Biden. As the hand counting proceeded, they saw stacks of ballots on counting stations that were almost entirely for Biden. Few Trump votes were piled up. (Fulton County's latest results, posted a day before the audit, showed Biden had 72.65 percent and Trump had 26.16 percent of the vote.) Favorito said he and his monitors had been tracking this trend all morning.
"I live in Fulton County. That's ballot box stuffing," he said. "There's no place in Fulton County that's going to be 100 percent for Joe Biden or even 99 percent. Seventy-thirty, maybe. Eighty-twenty? Something's wrong."
After walking through the rows of tables, Garland's team of a dozen observers had been noting which counting stations had the disproportionate piles. They were not allowed to talk to the audit board workers. They copied the ballot batch numbers on the storage cases. After taking notes, a small group huddled on the side.
"I don't know how to report this when there are huge discrepancies," said the wife of a GOP legislator who didn't want her name used.
"I've written the precincts down," she said.
"There is no way in hell that's correct," replied Favorito, who was usually soft-spoken and courtly.
"I've taken pictures," she continued, pulling out a legal pad. "These are all of my batch numbers where I saw huge discrepancies."
How did they know that these were discrepancies?
"These are 95-5," Favorito said.
"Is there a Republican lawyer here, Garland?" the legislator's wife asked.
Another woman (who didn't want to be named) broke into the conversation. At one table, she said that the absentee ballots looked "too white and they didn't look like they were crinkled at all—like they didn't go through a machine or anything."
"Did you write that down?" Favorito asked. "That has to be a legal challenge."
A few minutes later, the two women said that they did not fully understand what they were seeing. They were flustered that they could not ask the counters any questions. They did not trust the county election officials, who they suspected somehow had fabricated ballots. They did not seem to realize that the audit was a small part of a larger post-Election Day sequence. They believed that the audit boards were accurately counting ballots, but they didn't trust the ballots.
The audit's narrowly focused tasks flustered other Trump supporters who joined the conversation. The night before, Trump attacked Raffensperger on Twitter, calling him a "RINO"—Republican in name only—and said that he "won't let the people checking the ballots see the signatures for fraud," which is not part of this audit's process. Ballots do not have signatures on them. Absentee ballot return envelopes have signatures and other identifying information that is verified before the ballots are taken out and counted. That two-step process ensures that one's ballot remains secret, and it occurred before the November 14 audit.
"It's ridiculous," groused another woman. "They don't do the audit of the signature to match the mail-in ballot? So why are they counting?"
When it was pointed out that the signature verification was done earlier, she replied, "How do they explain dead people voting then?"
When asked to explain how she knew if votes had been cast in the names of the deceased, she replied, "How do you know they weren't?" After a pause, she continued, "Because it happens in other countries. Come on, is America the first country where dead people don't vote? This happens in every country."
"There were people who voted in this election who were over 100 years old," said David Turner, a computer programmer and colleague of Favorito's. "They died years ago. But their names [are on voter rolls]. They [state officials] haven't cleaned up the database, the voter rolls. They [dead people] keep voting."
The night before the audit, Fox News' Tucker Carlson apologized on air, saying, "One of the people who voted in last week's [Georgia] election isn't dead… A whole bunch of dead people did vote… but James Blalock was not among them. … So apologies for that and of course we're always going to correct when we're wrong."
Fulton County's Audit
Claims of fraudulent voting are neither new nor confined to Fulton County, where election officials rejected the allegations of fabricated ballots sullying the process. Voter fraud claims are cliches that have been promoted by Republicans for many years. They have been raised in Trump's post-election litigation and have been widely rejected by numerous state and federal judges. The angst behind these accusations is clearly born of frustration that their candidate did not emerge victorious in Georgia's first unofficial presidential election results.
However, the perception that Fulton County was counting illegally manufactured ballots—because there were much bigger piles of Biden votes and seemingly too few Trump votes—deserves scrutiny. It turns out that these partisan observers misunderstood what they thought they were seeing.
The batches of ballots brought to the counting tables were not all of the votes that had been cast in a neighborhood, explained several county election officials on November 15. However, the Trump supporters assumed that every labeled batch of ballots represented a local neighborhood's precinct.
"They don't necessarily correspond to the precincts," Barron said, at a press conference.
"The reason that they are not sorted by precinct is that Fulton County had much higher percentages of absentee [ballots] and [in-person] early voting," explained Jessica Corbitt, Fulton County's director of external affairs. "Over 80 percent of our voters cast their ballot before Election Day. Those processes, especially in early voting, [are] where the bulk of the votes were cast. At State Farm Arena, more than 30,000 people voted. So every 3,000 or so votes, you batch the ballots."
Across Fulton County, voters from the same neighborhood chose different ways to cast their ballots. Some people voted early at the in-person voting centers, creating batches of ballots that were bundled as they came in. Some people returned their mailed-out absentee ballot in the mail, which was vetted and counted separately. Some people did not trust mail delivery, so they took their absentee ballot to a voting center, where it was canceled, and they used the new touch screen system. Some people waited until Election Day and voted in person at a local precinct.
In other words, the Trump supporters mistakenly assumed that they were seeing all of the ballots from a neighborhood—or precinct—being counted at the same time. What they were seeing, instead, were piles from different slices of the process.
"We had 30 early voting locations all over the county," Corbitt said. "The Alpharetta Library was the second-highest [turnout], which was in a more Republican-voting part of the county. There are a lot of stereotypes of where people in different parties live. One of these stacks somewhere [in this hall] is the Alpharetta Library… Across the county, we had high turnout, high early voting participation, high absentee ballot participation."
Corbitt's explanation was unlikely to sway Trump supporters—who had other complaints. A young reporter for America's Voice, a conservative outlet, said that she did not trust county employees to accurately count votes because they most likely were Democrats. She asked Barron at the November 15 press conference why he hadn't assembled more bipartisan teams. The county election director said that he turned to county employees and precinct managers to quickly assemble hundreds of needed workers and to minimize the county's cost.
Corbitt and Barron's explanations underscored that election observers are not always familiar with the intricacies of the process that they came to observe.
"Some of it is genuine misunderstanding," Corbitt said. "Not everyone is an election professional. Not everyone has the same experience observing elections. If someone is relatively new to this, it is a relatively multifaceted process. I think there's a lot of innocent misunderstanding. I do think there is intentional misinformation, which is what I'm more concerned about. I think that's dangerous and irresponsible. But if people just don't know, we are more than willing to be transparent and explain the process."
Favorito said that the hand count, as far as it went, was a step in the right direction. Fulton County was on track to finish counting on November 15—sooner than expected. Across the state, one-third of the counties had finished. The rest faced a late November 18 deadline.
"I'm really pleased that the secretary ordered the full hand count," Favorito said afterward. "There are people [some Trump supporters and observers] who don't understand that this is the first step in the process. The first step is to verify the electronic totals are correct. Then we have to decide if there are illegal ballots, and how to challenge them. That's the next step."
Other election integrity activists from out of state had sharper criticisms of Georgia's hand count audit—such as asking why it couldn't produce easily understood precinct-based vote results, and why hand count totals were being input into a computer at every county and sent to the secretary of state to compile, which seemed at cross-purposes to counting every paper ballot by hand.
But answering those questions would wait until after 2020's elections were finished. In the meantime, Favorito had another worry. A colleague, Scott Hall, had stayed up until 2 a.m. on November 15 to crunch Fulton County's voter registration data. After Barron's press conference, he held forth with reporters for PBS NewsHour, the New York Times and right-wing outlets and insisted that his analysis showed that 52,000 Fulton County residents voted more than once for president.
"I've heard that gentleman who was one of the observers," Corbitt said. "We obviously don't believe that's true. I'm sure you knew that."
Several hours later, Hall reran the numbers and retracted his assertion, Favorito said. "We were collecting evidence, and he goes and blurts it out before we confirmed it."
Georgia's deadline to certify 2020's election results is Friday, November 20. After certification, losing candidates in very close races can request a recount. That's a different procedure, legally, from the audit. If there is a recount, each county's paper ballots would be counted by high-speed electronic scanners.
Steven Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent of Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He has reported for National Public Radio, Marketplace, and Christian Science Monitor Radio, as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon, AlterNet, the American Prospect, and many others.
This article was produced by Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute.


alternet--2020-11-18--A disturbing Trump plot to steal Michigan votes abruptly falls apart

A disturbing element of President Donald Trump 's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election appeared to be falling into place on Tuesday night , a development which had his allies celebrating .
But almost as soon as it began , the gambit fell apart , dashing Trump 's short-lived victory .
The incident focused on Wayne County in Michigan , the swing state where President-elect Joe Biden 's lead has thus far proved the strongest with well over 100,000 votes separating him from the president .
Despite this , the Trump campaign and his allies have preposterously @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the true winner , pushing vague , dubious and unsubstantiated claims of misconduct that they believe undermines the official vote count .
The Trump campaign has taken some of their complaints to court , but judges have quickly dismissed them as meritless .
But on Tuesday , it seemed the Trump campaign had found a more receptive and pivotal audience for their claims : The Wayne County Board of Canvassers .
That board , made up of two Republicans and two Democrats , has the authority to certify election results .
And surprisingly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to certify the vote , deadlocking the board and preventing the results from being made official .
Monica Palmer , one of the Republicans on the board , reportedly said she would be willing to certify all of the votes outside of Detroit , according to reporter Kathy Gray , which critics quickly said was a clear sign of racism .
Her ostensible reason for the refusal to certify was clerical discrepancies at voting precincts .
But Gray pointed out that such discrepancies are common in many counties and do not implicate a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's refusal to certify would n't be the end of the matter , however , and it would n't suddenly deliver victory to Trump in Michigan .
The deadlock sends the responsibility for certifying the results to state officials , who would have been expected to eventually approve the vote tally .
But the delay would feed the Trump strategy of fueling doubt and chaos around the election results and undermining the trust in American democracy .
It could have bolstered his argument that state legislatures should appoint their own electors on Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so far seems to have little hope of getting off the ground .
So , naturally , the Trump team was thrilled with this development at the board of canvassers : But the apparent victory did n't last long .
As Gray reported subsequently , the county board shortly voted unanimously to certify the results of the election .
`` The Wayne County Board of Canvassers decision to actually certify the election came after about 3 hours of voters loudly calling out the board for trying to disenfranchise Detroit voters , '' she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frustrating thing is that the board was muted for about five minutes and came back on and basically said never mind , we changed our minds and certified the results .
No explanation . ''
Unfortunately for White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany , she was on Fox News touting the incident right around the time the board decided to end the deadlock .
It appears , for now , that another avenue for Trump 's attempted coup is a dead end , as they all are likely to be .
But it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is finding for his blatant attempt to undo the results of a lawfully conducted election that he decisively lost .
This is much more than a mere emotional outburst or tantrum , terms that some observers have used to dismiss the president 's attempt to contest the results .
Much of the Republican Party is still entertaining his claim that the results are not settled .
This is damaging the future Biden administration by delaying an orderly transition , but perhaps even more importantly , it 's fraying the GOP 's already weak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The party is going down a dark path , and it 's chilling to think of where it will lead .

A disturbing element of President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election appeared to be falling into place on Tuesday night, a development which had his allies celebrating. But almost as soon as it began, the gambit fell apart, dashing Trump's short-lived victory.
The incident focused on Wayne County in Michigan, the swing state where President-elect Joe Biden's lead has thus far proved the strongest with well over 100,000 votes separating him from the president. Despite this, the Trump campaign and his allies have preposterously tried to claim that the president was the true winner, pushing vague, dubious and unsubstantiated claims of misconduct that they believe undermines the official vote count. The Trump campaign has taken some of their complaints to court, but judges have quickly dismissed them as meritless.
But on Tuesday, it seemed the Trump campaign had found a more receptive and pivotal audience for their claims: The Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
That board, made up of two Republicans and two Democrats, has the authority to certify election results. And surprisingly, the Republicans initially refused to agree to certify the vote, deadlocking the board and preventing the results from being made official.
Monica Palmer, one of the Republicans on the board, reportedly said she would be willing to certify all of the votes outside of Detroit, according to reporter Kathy Gray, which critics quickly said was a clear sign of racism. Her ostensible reason for the refusal to certify was clerical discrepancies at voting precincts. But Gray pointed out that such discrepancies are common in many counties and do not implicate a significant number of votes.
The board's refusal to certify wouldn't be the end of the matter, however, and it wouldn't suddenly deliver victory to Trump in Michigan. The deadlock sends the responsibility for certifying the results to state officials, who would have been expected to eventually approve the vote tally. But the delay would feed the Trump strategy of fueling doubt and chaos around the election results and undermining the trust in American democracy. It could have bolstered his argument that state legislatures should appoint their own electors on Trump's behalf, a related strategy that so far seems to have little hope of getting off the ground.
So, naturally, the Trump team was thrilled with this development at the board of canvassers:
But the apparent victory didn't last long. As Gray reported subsequently, the county board shortly voted unanimously to certify the results of the election.
"The Wayne County Board of Canvassers decision to actually certify the election came after about 3 hours of voters loudly calling out the board for trying to disenfranchise Detroit voters," she explained after the deadlock. "Really frustrating thing is that the board was muted for about five minutes and came back on and basically said never mind, we changed our minds and certified the results. No explanation."
Unfortunately for White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, she was on Fox News touting the incident right around the time the board decided to end the deadlock.
It appears, for now, that another avenue for Trump's attempted coup is a dead end, as they all are likely to be. But it's disturbing how much traction the president is finding for his blatant attempt to undo the results of a lawfully conducted election that he decisively lost. This is much more than a mere emotional outburst or tantrum, terms that some observers have used to dismiss the president's attempt to contest the results. Much of the Republican Party is still entertaining his claim that the results are not settled. This is damaging the future Biden administration by delaying an orderly transition, but perhaps even more importantly, it's fraying the GOP's already weak commitment to democracy before our eyes. The party is going down a dark path, and it's chilling to think of where it will lead.


alternet--2020-11-18--Republicans are nervous about Georgia runoffs — and that's a very good thing

Runoff-bound Georgia Republicans confessed some of their worry about their chances in the waning days of the Trump era on a Nov. 10 phone call with donors , The Washington Post reports .
But they also admitted that Donald Trump might have been a problem for them .
Sens .
David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler were joined by Karl Rove and Sen. Todd Young , a recent chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee , which hosted the call .
`` I 'm assuming the worst but hoping for the best , '' Young said—meaning President-elect Joe Biden and Speaker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the urgent pitch to Republicans to make a push in Georgia .
And , not coincidentally , the pitch to Democrats to make a push in Georgia .
Perdue admitted that Donald Trump may not have helped Republicans in Georgia , trying to frame that as a good thing going forward .
`` I 'm talking about people that may have voted for Biden but now may come back and vote for us because there was an anti-Trump vote in Georgia , '' Perdue said .
`` And we think some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , may come back to us .
And I 'm hopeful of that . ''
At the same time , Perdue whined about how Georgia is changing , saying : `` They changed , dramatically , the face of the electorate in Georgia .
Many of these new voters are from California , Illinois , New York , New Jersey , and they 're not of the conservative persuasion . ''
Kelly Loeffler , let it be noted , was born in Illinois , grew up in Illinois , went to college in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in … Illinois .
So Perdue wants to get out the vote in the suburbs , where `` an anti-Trump vote '' hurt him on Nov. 3 , but he 's also worried about the changing face of the electorate , which is bringing in those darned northerners .
That may not be the most coherent argument ever , but maybe it will work on Republican donors .
One very interesting question in this runoff , though , is whether and how Trump will engage .
Will he even care , since he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be dealing with the next Senate anyway ?
Will he get angry that Republicans are moving forward on the runoffs rather than going to war for him , and end up dragging them down ?
Comments like `` there was an anti-Trump vote in Georgia '' are just the kind of thing that might enrage him .
These runoffs are an uphill battle for Democrats—it 's still Georgia , after all—but it 's good to see Republicans nervous .

Runoff-bound Georgia Republicans confessed some of their worry about their chances in the waning days of the Trump era on a Nov. 10 phone call with donors, The Washington Post reports. But they also admitted that Donald Trump might have been a problem for them.
Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler were joined by Karl Rove and Sen. Todd Young, a recent chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which hosted the call. "I'm assuming the worst but hoping for the best," Young said—meaning President-elect Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which is the basis for the urgent pitch to Republicans to make a push in Georgia. And, not coincidentally, the pitch to Democrats to make a push in Georgia.
Perdue admitted that Donald Trump may not have helped Republicans in Georgia, trying to frame that as a good thing going forward.
"I'm talking about people that may have voted for Biden but now may come back and vote for us because there was an anti-Trump vote in Georgia," Perdue said. "And we think some of those people, particularly in the suburbs, may come back to us. And I'm hopeful of that."
At the same time, Perdue whined about how Georgia is changing, saying: "They changed, dramatically, the face of the electorate in Georgia. Many of these new voters are from California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and they're not of the conservative persuasion." Kelly Loeffler, let it be noted, was born in Illinois, grew up in Illinois, went to college in Illinois, and went to business school in … Illinois.
So Perdue wants to get out the vote in the suburbs, where "an anti-Trump vote" hurt him on Nov. 3, but he's also worried about the changing face of the electorate, which is bringing in those darned northerners. That may not be the most coherent argument ever, but maybe it will work on Republican donors.
One very interesting question in this runoff, though, is whether and how Trump will engage. Will he even care, since he's increasingly aware that he won't be dealing with the next Senate anyway? Will he get angry that Republicans are moving forward on the runoffs rather than going to war for him, and end up dragging them down? Comments like "there was an anti-Trump vote in Georgia" are just the kind of thing that might enrage him.
These runoffs are an uphill battle for Democrats—it's still Georgia, after all—but it's good to see Republicans nervous.