Georgia election officials insist that the voting went smoothly on Tuesday, but reports of election irregularities emerged throughout the day, prompting suspicion among many Republicans that the election was rigged.
Radio talk show host John Fredricks said he received calls from Georgia voters saying that the Dominion machines in three of the state’s largest Republican precincts went down at 10:00 a.m.
The voters said poll workers told them they would scan their votes when the problems were fixed.
GEORGIA: @jfradioshow "Dominion machines in… 3 of the largest Republican precincts…are down…They are told they can't scan their ballots because the machines don't work…The pole workers are saying 'When it's fixed we'll scan it for you'…There's all kinds of red flags" pic.twitter.com/7UTAbJ2wzp
— TheSharpEdge (@TheSharpEdge1) January 5, 2021
“Reports are coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour,” President Trump said in a tweet at 12:18 p.m. “Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them.”
At 12:40, Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system implementation manager, tweeted back at the president, telling him that the issues were “resolved hours ago,” and that the secretary of state’s office was keeping the public informed in “real time.”
“The votes of everyone will be protected and counted,” Sterling tweeted in response to Trump’s claims. “Sorry you received old intel Mr. President,” Sterling said.
And this issue in Columbia Co. was resolved hours ago and our office informed the public about it in real time. The votes of everyone will be protected and counted. Sorry you received old intel Mr. President. https://t.co/qqGmnIqwsM
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) January 5, 2021
Sterling didn’t explain why the issues only occurred in Republican-leaning districts.
As on Election Day 2020, voters in counties throughout Georgia were told that they already voted and would have to vote provisionally.
Reports from 5 different #Georgia counties say voters, including elder parents who were taken to the polls today were told they had already voted in Fulton Co. In Middle GA many were told they were actually registered in Fulton Co. #TipOfTheIceburg @Perduesenate @KLoeffler
— The Tybee Times (@TheTybeeTimes) January 6, 2021
Credentialed Republican poll observers in Fulton County were blocked by barriers and had to obtain a court order from a Fulton County Superior Court Judge to obtain permission to monitor poll workers processing absentee ballots and verifying signatures.
Reportedly, individuals at the World Congress Center were scanning and adjudicating ballots by themselves without Republican oversight.
The judge ordered elections officials to allow poll monitors to be at least 10 feet away from the processing tables, inside the steel barriers.
However Fulton County elections officials are still blocking credentialed monitors from overseeing absentee ballots and verifying signatures despite the court order.
Tuesday night, while votes were being counted, viewers watched in horror, as thousands of votes disappeared for Republican Sen. David Perdue on live television.
GEORGIA🚨
They still haven't explained negative votes because the explanation is fraud. 32,400 votes taken from David Perdue live.
774,723 – 742,323 = 32,400🔻 pic.twitter.com/uqD4LFQJXI
— Kanekoa (@KanekoaTheGreat) January 6, 2021
GEORGIA🚨
Elections are an additive process — you count the votes — and add them up. At no point should votes be going down.
Unfortunately, here are another 5,000 votes subtracted from @Perduesenate live on ABC.
2,130,535 – 2,125,535 = 5,000 pic.twitter.com/mk3Yn5MH1F
— Kanekoa (@KanekoaTheGreat) January 6, 2021
BREAKING: ⚠️ (Must Watch) They deleted 5,000 votes From Perdue in Gwinnett County Georgia Live on Tv. Then after closing the precinct, they reported 5,000 remaining to be counted so they could switch those ballots overnight to Democrat. @SidneyPowell1 @LLinWood @sendavidperdue pic.twitter.com/mIrRy6cLSA
— Story still developing… (@ppv_tahoe) January 6, 2021
President Trump complained on Twitter Wednesday morning that “our election process is worse than that of third world countries!”
They just happened to find 50,000 ballots late last night. The USA is embarrassed by fools. Our Election Process is worse than that of third world countries!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021