ATLANTA, Georgia – During a Georgia Public Broadcasting-hosted debate on Monday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger dismissed concerns about drop boxes and their impact on election integrity.
In response to a question about legislation banning drop boxes, Raffensperger replied, “People are missing the point on drop boxes because you can use the U.S. postal service.”
The debate was part of the The Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate series. It was taped at 11 a.m. and airs at 8 p.m. on Monday.
For his part, U.S. Representative and Trump-endorsed candidate in the race for Georgia Secretary of State Jody Hice hammered the incumbent.
“We never had drop-off boxes until Brad Raffensperger,” said Hice in one exchange.
In another, Hice said, “Ballot harvesting was created in the state of Georgia because of Brad Raffensperger,” and “He is the very one who has lost voter integrity in this state.”
Candidates were asked how they would have handled the 2020 elections if they were Secretary of State. Hice said, “If I had been in that position I would never have made a deal with Stacey Abrams to begin with.”
Raffensperger hit back at Hice’s comments, frequently referring to them as “lies” and at one point said, “Jody Hice has been lying for 18 months.”
During a post-debate press gaggle that was skipped by Raffensperger, The Georgia Star News asked Hice to respond to his opponent’s assertions about his comments. Hice said, “Look, its just the opposite. He has been saying for 18 months that this was the most secure election in Georgia history. Nothing could be further from the truth in that.”
Hice continued, “I’ve been fighting to try to get to the bottom of it, try to get answers, try to make sure that the voters of Georgia can have confidence in our election system while Brad is running around trying to pretend as though this was a secure and fair election. It was not.”
The Star News asked Hice how he felt about Raffensperger’s dismissal of concerns about the issue of ballot boxes.
“He tries to dismiss anything that looks bad on him in terms of not doing his job to secure elections in the state of Georgia. The bottom line is he did not secure elections in the state of Georgia,” responded Hice. “He did not give us a fair and honest election and therefore, the voters of Georgia now need to – and I believe are going to – hold him accountable.”
“Its time to boot Brad, so to speak, and I believe that’s about to take place,” he concluded.
The Republican primary for Georgia Secretary of State is scheduled to take place on May 24.
Watch the full debate:
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
