Two Republican Senators in Georgia, both headed to their own run-off elections in January, released a statement Monday calling for the resignation of the state’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, who is also a Republican.
Without specific details or evidence, the statement from the senators says Raffensperger is responsible for “failures” in the election process.
“The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Georgians are outraged, and rightly so,” the statement from Senator Kelly Loeffler and Senator David Perdue reads. “The mismanagement and lack of transparency from the Secretary of State is unacceptable.”
Joint statement from @Perduesenate and myself. #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/E8nQ5R9yOm
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) November 9, 2020
Raffensperger has faced criticism amid allegations, without evidence, of missing or mishandled ballots. His team has repeatedly said there is no evidence of issues or voter fraud.
He responded to Loeffler and Perdue's statement shortly after.
"Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me," Raffensperger says.
"I know emotions are running high. Politics are involved in everything right now. If I was Senator Perdue, I'd be irritated I was in a runoff. And both Senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our President," he continued.
Statement from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger pic.twitter.com/Sf1JIWH5qg
— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) November 9, 2020
Many races in Georgia are too close to call, including the presidential race. Both senate races are headed to a run-off election of the top two candidates because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.
Loeffler was appointed to the Senate seat in late 2019, replacing Senator Johnny Isakson who stepped down because of health reasons. She faced a long slate of candidates on Tuesday, including Democrat Raphael Warnock and fellow Republican Doug Collins. Warnock received about 33 percent of the vote, Loeffler 26 percent and Collins 20 percent. Other candidates were in the single digits.
Perdue was first elected to the Senate in 2014 and is facing Democrat Jon Ossoff. Perdue received 49.7 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Ossoff got 47.9 percent of the vote, and the Libertarian candidate received 2.3 percent.
The presidential race in Georgia appears to be headed to a recount, Biden leads by about 10,000 votes. The Trump campaign has announced Doug Collins, who will not be included in the January Senate run-off election, will head up their efforts in the recount.
A recount would begin after the vote tallies are certified, which will happen around November 20.