Top Georgia Republican says mail-in ballots would be ‘devastating to Republicans’

The top Republican in the Georgia state House says emergency efforts to send a mail-in ballot to every state voter could cost Republicans control of the state legislature.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston issued the warning as he complained about plans by Secretar of State Brad Raffensperger ‘to ensure all Georgians can vote without fear for their health.’

‘So, here, you know, the process keeps going up and up and up and so a multitude of reasons why vote by mail in my view is not acceptable,” Ralston said, referencing recent comments by Donald Trump. ‘The president said it best, this will be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia,’ he said. 

Trump complained last week on Fox News that Democrats were trying to force inclusion of voter access issues in a $2 trillion coronavirus bailout law.

Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston is complaining that sending mail-in ballots would be ‘devastating’ to Republicans in his state

‘The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you ever agreed to, you would never have a Republican elected in this country again,’ Trump said. 

Both Ralston, the speaker, and Raffensperger, the secretary of state, are Republicans.

Raffensperger announced plans to send a ballot to each of the state’s 6.9 million registered voters, after officials announced they would move the primary from March 24 to May 19. he called it part of ‘an effort to allow as many Georgia voters as possible to exercise their right to vote without leaving their homes.’

That decision came as the coronavirus was ravaging nations and spreading in the U.S. beyond what was able to be detected through testing. Officials determined the need for social distancing was acute, in a state where 95 per cent of voters cast their votes in person – and where long lines were a feature of the fiercely contested governor’s race in 2018.    

Ralston referenced comments by Trump that Democrats were pushing for 'levels of voting that if you ever agreed to, you would never have a Republican elected in this country again'

Ralston referenced comments by Trump that Democrats were pushing for ‘levels of voting that if you ever agreed to, you would never have a Republican elected in this country again’

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. There were complaints of voter suppression after then-Sec. State Brian Kemp purged more than 1 million voters from the rolls

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. There were complaints of voter suppression after then-Sec. State Brian Kemp purged more than 1 million voters from the rolls

Georgia has delayed its primary until May due to the coronavirus

Georgia has delayed its primary until May due to the coronavirus

Georgia voters are getting the chance to vote by mail as officials urge people to avoid large gatherings to avoid getting the deadly coronavirus

Georgia voters are getting the chance to vote by mail as officials urge people to avoid large gatherings to avoid getting the deadly coronavirus

Ralston continued: ‘Let me say that again, every registered voter is going to get one of these. Now, I ask you, because I know you keep up with this, what was the turnout in the primary back in to 2018 or 2016?’ the Hill reported. He made the comments on the FetchYourNews program. 

Ralston said the pandemic confronting the nation was ‘unprecedented.’

‘And to use that for political purposes in my view is just so incredibly wrong.’ 

“Was it 100 percent?” Ralston asked. “No. It’s way, way, way lower and so, you know, this is going to, this will certainly drive up turnout.”

Interviewer BKP asked him: ‘Could it jeopardize Republican control the House and Senate in the state? Could it jeopardize, you know, other races up and down the ballot in 2020?’

He bashed making ‘fundamental change’ in voting procedures without action by the legislative branch. To simply have this become an administrative decision made apparently on the fly during this crisis to me is very very unwise.’ 

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp says he doesn’t have the power to move the state’s May 19 primary.  Democrats complained during Kemp’s 2018 election about barriers to voting and claimed voter suppression after Kemp as secretary of state purged 1.4 million Georgians from rolls.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have been using the courts to try to stop Democratic efforts to liberalize voting laws amid the coronavirus epidemic, in the midst of stay-home orders across the country. 

Likely Democratic presidential nominee former vice president Joe Biden is calling for such efforts. ‘This is about making sure that we’re able to conduct our democracy while we’re dealing with a pandemic. We can do both,’ he said. 

 

  

 

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