Georgia Governor Says State's Voter Suppression Law Isn't About Fraud

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said during an interview with WABE, an Atlanta-based NPR affiliate, that the state’s recent law limiting access to the ballot box has nothing to do with voter fraud.

The interviewer brought up unfounded claims by Republicans in the state that voter fraud was widespread during the state’s elections in 2020 and asked Kemp if there was an opportunity for the GOP to tell voters that those claims are false.

“A lot of this bill is dealing with the mechanics of the election,” he said. “It has nothing to do with potential fraud or not. That’s still playing out with the investigations, as they do with any large election. It takes months and months for that to come to fruition. The bottom line is that the election is certified, President Biden is in office and we’re moving on. But it doesn’t hide the facts that there were some issues on Election Day.”

Kemp did not cite what those issues were.

Here is the reality: There was no election fraud in Georgia. Much of the GOP disinformation campaign targeted absentee ballots mailed to the state, but an audit confirmed they were authentic. On the other hand, early voting sites across the state were closed ahead of January’s senate runoffs, which impacted Black voters.

Donald Trump was literally caught in a recording trying to pressure state officials to find any sign of fraudulent activity that didn’t exist. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is leading an investigation into allegations that Trump tried to manipulate election results. Republicans hate election equality so much that they are reportedly revolting against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who showed a modicum of integrity for standing by the election results.

Stacey Abrams, of course, made clear that Raffensperger is not a champion of voter rights at all—which drives home the point that the GOP is committed to cheating their way to victory.

Abrams, who is widely credited with turning Georgia blue, is expected to run against Kemp in 2022—a possibility that likely motivated Republicans in the state to make it harder for people to vote.

Kemp did not say much else that was interesting during his nearly 11-minute interview with WABE, but if you want to hear his fuckery, go have a listen.