Georgia GOP election official 'stunned' after Lindsey Graham pressures him to throw out thousands of ballots

On Monday, The Washington Postreported that Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, revealed in an interview that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pressured him to toss thousands of valid ballots — and even suggested blocking entire counties from having their mail-in ballots counted.

"In the interview, Raffensperger ... said he spoke on Friday to Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has echoed Trump’s unfounded claims about voting irregularities," reported Amy Gardner. "In their conversation, Graham questioned Raffensperger about the state’s signature-matching law and whether political bias could have prompted poll workers to accept ballots with nonmatching signatures, according to Raffensperger. Graham also asked whether Raffensperger had the power to toss all mail ballots in counties found to have higher rates of nonmatching signatures, Raffensperger said."

"Raffspenger said he was stunned that Graham appeared to suggest that he find a way to toss legally cast ballots," said the report. "Absent court intervention, Raffensperger doesn’t have the power to do what Graham suggested, as counties administer elections in Georgia. 'It sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road,' he said."

Graham's office did not respond to requests for comment, other than to direct them to a letter from Republicans in Georgia criticizing the election process.

President-elect Joe Biden won in part to carrying the state of Georgia by a narrow margin of just over 14,000 votes. The state's two Senate elections are advancing to runoffs which will decide ultimate control of Congress.