As the Georgia secretary of state’s office continues to investigate evidence that indicates more than 10,300 Georgians may have illegally voted in the November 2020 election, on Friday the office’s chief operating officer reportedly defended voters for violating state election law.
“The reality is these are normal, everyday Georgians who are just trying to exercise their right to vote in a very weird year,” Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling reportedly told Atlanta’s WSB-TV, when confronted with an admission from one voter that he had moved more than 30 days before the general election but cast his vote in the county in which he no longer lived.
As The Federalist reported last week, before Georgia certified its election results, President Trump challenged the state’s tally that showed Joe Biden winning the general election by 11,779 votes out of nearly five million votes cast. One of the more than 30 arguments Trump presented in his lawsuit challenging the election charged that nearly 40,000 Georgians illegally voted in a county in which they did not reside.
Trump’s challenge relied on Section 21-2-218 of the state’s election code, which unequivocally provides that residents must vote in the county in which they reside unless they had changed their residence within 30 days of the election. So clear is Georgia’s in-county voting mandate that on Friday “FactCheck” confirmed the accuracy of this reading of the law by quoting the Georgia secretary of state’s voter registration webpage:
At the time of Trump’s election challenge, in alleging widespread violations of Section 21-2-218, the president relied on information from the Secretary of State’s Office and the U.S. Postal Service National Change of Address (NCOA) database, the latter of which identified more than 100,000 individuals who had indicated a move to a new county before October 1, 2020.
Mark Davis, an expert on residency issues and voter data analytics, compared the NCOA data to official data from the Secretary of State’s Office and determined that approximately 35,000 of those Georgians cast a ballot in the county from which they had moved more than 30 days before the election. While a percentage of those voters may have moved only temporarily, perhaps because they were students or in the military—circumstances that do not affect a voter’s residency—with less than 12,000 votes separating Biden and Trump, this bucket of potentially illegal votes could have resulted in a state court tossing the election results.
Nonetheless, because Georgia courts delayed Trump’s election-challenge case, setting a trial on the matter only after Congress’ certification of Biden as the victor, evidence of illegal voting was never heard.
Since then, however, as The Federalist first reported a little more than a week ago, growing evidence indicates enough illegal out-of-county votes will eventually be revealed to exceed Biden’s margin of victory. Specifically, Davis re-ran the data in May and found that more than 10,300 of the approximately 35,000 individuals who moved to a new county have since confirmed their move was permanent by updating their voter registration to the same address they had previously provided the USPS.
The Secretary of State’s Office told The Federalist in a nearly hour-long interview last week that its investigation into these voters is ongoing, but the lead investigator Frances Watson refused to provide any specifics concerning the investigatory steps being taken.
However, last week, after obtaining a list of the 10,000-plus voters who had updated their registrations since the general election, pursuant to a Georgia open records request, WSB TV investigative reporter Justin Gray launched his own probe, knocking on doors to ask voters about their moves.
In a Friday article, Gray reported on his conversations with two voters. According to Gray, one voter, identified as Jon Stout, “admits he did vote in the wrong county after moving just a few houses down the street but crossing the DeKalb County line.” Stout claimed he did so because he was not “able to update his driver’s license during the pandemic.” Stout, however, also did not update his voter registration, which he could have done online with the Secretary of State’s Office.
A second voter, identified as Mark Buerkle, told Gray that “he did move from Gwinnett County to Fulton but turned in his Fulton ballot at a Fulton dropbox.” “The fact is I live here, I voted here, I voted in this county. It should be legit and there shouldn’t be any questions,” Buerkle told WSB TV.
When asked about this reporting, Davis stressed that he doesn’t like talking about specific voters, especially because it is possible the voter may not have even realized he was actually casting a Gwinnett County ballot. “It is up to our elections officials and law enforcement to determine who may or may not have violated the law,” Davis told me, “which is why they are conducting an investigation, and why I gave them the data from my analysis.”
“Equally as important,” though, Davis added, “I also want our elected officials to understand these are systemic irregularities that must be addressed.”
“With respect to Mr. Buerkle, I am sorry Channel 2 put him on the spot the way they did,” Davis told me. “I have deliberately refrained from publishing the data from my analysis,” Davis noted, adding that “I had an understanding with the Secretary of State’s Office that it would not be subject to an open records request until the conclusion of their investigation, yet here we are.” (Davis also required me to sign a non-disclosure agreement before providing access to the data for review.)
“That said, when it comes to his residency in particular, I only know the story the data is telling me,” Davis stated, and “the November 2020, NCOA data shows an individual change of address was filed last year, with a move effective date in August of 2020, which indicated a move from an address in Gwinnett County to a new address in Fulton County.”
Further, “the absentee voter data shows this individual was still registered in Gwinnett County when he appears to have requested an absentee ballot be mailed to his Fulton County address in September of 2020.” Also, while this voter told WSB-TV he had placed that ballot in a Fulton County drop box two blocks from his house, “both the absentee data and the vote history data indicate the vote was cast in Gwinnett County,” Davis explained, adding that, if handled properly, Fulton County election officials would transfer the ballot to Gwinnett County.
None of this is to say Buerkle or Stout committed voter fraud. Stout apparently thought nothing of voting in a county in which he no longer lived, and Buerkle seems to not even realize that, according to the secretary of state records, he cast a Gwinnett County absentee ballot.
The public might also pooh-pooh these admissions as insignificant, but as Davis told me, state election law requires voters to cast a ballot in their county of residence for a reason: Each county has unique issues facing residents, whether it be taxes or which local or state officials will represent them. For instance, “When Mr. Buerkle lived in Gwinnett County, he would have voted in the Seventh Congressional District, but his new residence in Fulton County is in the Fifth Congressional District,” Davis told me.
But even if the public shrugs at the significance of these revelations, Georgia’s Secretary of State’s Office, in the person of its chief operating officer, shouldn’t spin the casting of illegal votes as people “just trying to exercise their right to vote.” To the contrary, every illegal vote cast disenfranchised a legal voter who followed the law, including those who moved and undertook “the normal burden” of voting by lawfully updating their voting registration.
Then there were the Georgia voters who moved and, like the voters featured in WSB TV’s article, failed to update their voter registration—as legally required—in time to cast a ballot in the general election. The overwhelming majority of those 100,000-plus citizens followed the law and did not vote in a county in which they no longer lived.
So, what we have then, is the Secretary of State’s Office defending the counting of the ballots of those who broke the law and even excusing those violations, while those who followed the law remained unable to cast ballots at all. One must wonder too how seriously the Secretary of State’s Office takes the investigation into the 10,000-plus residents if its COO frames those who violate Section 21-2-218 as merely “trying to exercise their right to vote.”
After WSB TV broke the story late last week, I sought comment from Sterling and asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s communications manager for voter education, Walter Jones, for a statement. Did Raffensperger agree with Sterling’s assessment? And if not, would the secretary issue a comment condemning violations of election law and Sterling’s disregard for election integrity? Both media requests were ignored.
This approach is disconcerting. The public needs to have confidence that the Secretary of State’s Office will undertake a full and transparent investigation of election irregularities, and Sterling’s statements to the press last week ferment distrust.
Sterling’s recent comments prove even more troubling when considered in tandem with statements a Georgia secretary of state spokesperson made to “FactCheck” late last week concerning the newly revealed evidence of the 10,300-plus likely illegal votes cast in the November 2020 election. Jones reportedly told FactCheck that “establishing a person’s residency is complicated and involves a number of variables, including where a person claims a homestead exemption, and even a person’s ‘intent.’”
That is all true, but it ignores the reality that the more than 10,300 voters specifically at issue all made clear their intent to change residencies when they updated their voter registration records—albeit too late to legally vote in the November 2020 election in their new counties. Further, while there may be a few people on the fringes, it is extremely likely that nearly all of the voters who informed the secretary of state that they had permanently moved to a new county did so on or about the date they told the USPS they were moving—which was more than 30 days before the November 2020 election.
Ironically, Jones also stressed to FactCheck that 86 percent of the voters Davis identified in person “showed up in the polling location where they were registered,” implying some connection to their old residence existed. But as WSB-TV reported, for one voter that meant just walking a few blocks to his old precinct in another county. Jones’s statement would also suggest that many of the voters on the list deliberately traveled a considerable distance to their old county of residence to vote.
Considered in context with Sterling’s comments, however, the worst spin came when Jones stressed to FactCheck that “federal law requires ‘individualized inquiry’ into each voter’s situation,” and that “calling these voter’s ‘illegal voters’ without doing that individualized inquiry is a disservice.”
But then when confronted by an Atlanta investigative reporter who undertook that “individualized inquiry”—and went two-for-two with voters who admitted they had moved more than 30 days before the election—the secretary of state’s COO derided the discovery. That was the real disservice!
Further, while Sterling was spinning this confirmation of illegal votes as just “normal, everyday Georgians who are just trying to exercise their right to vote,” the secretary of state’s press person pushed the conflicting talking point that in-person voters “signed an oath that they resided where they are registered,” and absentee voters signed an application “saying that they still resided where they were registered.”
So which is it, Raffensperger? Are the 10,300-plus—and potentially up to 35,000—voters who may have cast ballots illegally in a county in which they didn’t live “just trying to exercise their right to vote”? Or did many of them deceive election workers by falsely signing an oath affirming they still reside in their old county?
via thefederalist
Georgia Voting Official Makes Excuses For Residents Who Illegally Voted in 2020
When I read the name Sterling, I stopped reading it! He has no credibility at all! Illegal is illegal PERIOD!
I would be very surprised if anything comes of this because I’ve read recently that this has never been brought up before Congress in the past & as far as Congress goes, they suck, no balls, & just want to cruise along & get paid for not doing much for the people or should I say the peasants, which is how they treat their constituents.
Mr. Sterling, please stop lying to us. You deserve tar and feather for your logic.
Exactly RIGHT…
Raffensberger, Sterling are liars, period . That state has So many illegal votes ,made in so many instances it is truly mind boggling!! I believe that the 2020 election was planned way ahead of time to be rigged, then came the unknown pandemic which played right into their dirty hands!!! No way would this have been pulled off if the pandemic did not hit, then EVERYTHING was changed and manipulated, which this state of Georgia and other key states were not authorized to do, by congress they just figured it out when Covid hit and saw the hugh POTENTIAL TO CHEAT!!!!! I RESIDE IN A BLUE STATE NY WHICH SUCKS , our voting rules and regulations are the way it should be in all state’s, that being said I waited on line to vote early for 4 hours and I saw things that were causing me to wonder , what is going on. I know for a fact that people from other districts were voting in my district and checking by phone with other people who were voting in the right district, inquiring how long the lines were and maybe they should move back to there owned district or stay where they were Or ho to another district to vote , they literally had people all over the county and by the masks they wore or the shirts, sweaters ,socks one knew they were for Biden / Harris. I knew something was not right but my other half said let it go, you can’t prove it. I am sure these types of situations happened all throughout our country, and I personally believe that every friggin state should do a forensic audit, because this past election was stolen big time ; biden certainly did Not receive more votes than Obama did at the height of his popularity…No Way. All the remaining states should do a audit ,all 48 so that will hopefully restore faith in the integrity of our elections for the American people, all of us really should want that, to be certain that your precious vote is going to the person you have chosen!!! One would think that this concept is a no brainer , I am doubtful of that right now. MAGA God Bless America..
There is NO EXCUSE for violating the law! Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. Trump won and was robbed of his second consecutive term by communists like Sterling.
It was done INTENTIONALLY to get rid of President Trump, sure he wasn’t PERFECT, but then “who” is, still, THAT did NOT give them the RIGHT to BETRAY Trump and the country as a whole….!!!! I only WANT what is RIGHT and according to LAW, NO FRAUD like this, biden/harris need to be REMOVED as well as so many other who were involved in this Law-BREAKING…..!!!!
The question is did these people vote just the once or did they vote in both counties?
I assume BOTH – that’s the ILLEGAL part here…..1 CITIZEN, 1 VOTE, now play dumb and say “Oh, I didn’t know that I CANNOT do THAT……!!!
I would like to know where in all these laws it requires “intent” beyond knowingly breaking the law. A person doesn’t get out of a speeding ticket by claiming they didn’t intend to speed. The fact that the law exists and the person broke it is considered a display of intent. Ignorance of the law or even the wish that they hadn’t done it doesn’t prevent them from getting a fine. Why is it that when political suits want to get away with something all of the sudden they come up with a new interpretation as to what constitutes “intent”. Sometimes like in the case of Comney with Hillary inventing the intent requirement out of whole-cloth where there never was one before and it is not in the law. How long before they come out and actually just say, “us Elites want it this way and there’s nothing you serfs can do about it because we define the laws; so they don’t apply to us”?
Well, aren’t the “elites” already just doing whatever they want and then tell us “Nothing you can do about”…??? Just like o’bama saying back then “Elections have Consequences”, then “I have a pen and a phone” and then, side stepping Congress on DACA and we are still STUCK with that EO, or what about the COSTLY o’bama care, everybody knew it was ILLEGAL and the rammed it through anyway “Just call it a TAX”….!!!
….. Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for “ignorance of the law excuses not” and “ignorance of law excuses no one” is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law simply because they were unaware of it. …..
No excuses PERIOD! Lock them UP!!!!! The US Constitution says every citizen has the right to a free and fair election the illegals who voted disenfranchised the fair election and changed the outcome stealing what should have happened from the Citizens of the entire USA not just GA!!!!!
They should be tried under UCMJ law and executed immediately for TREASON against the USA!!!
When GA is done with their TREASON trials they need to pull Biden from office with Harris by his side and try them on the front lawn and hang them in front of the front door!
As well as who ever else was involved, and there are MANY, especially the ones like pelosi – giving advise of HOW to pull it off through o’bama – Never trusted his so-called elections either, as there was reported that in many Districts there were MORE Votes than Registered Voters….!!!
Obama should have been put in Prison instead of the White House! His gay lover went public on a Chicago Radio Station 3 months befor the vote and the following night you see all of the survielance camera video evidence of Obama doing everything but pulling the trigger! To cover it up the wise cops at the Chicago Police Department said the gay lover committed suicide by way of 12 gauge shotgun to the back of his own head! Which is 100% impossible they showed the shotgun and it was completely stock and had not been sawed off!
A very WEIRD election year…??? The dims MADE it SO….There CAN’T be any excuses for the FRAUD that was committed….!!! The whole country was BETRAYED…period
There is no excuse for illegally voting in any election in this country. Any votes that were not legally cast are invalid. Anyone who facilitated the casting of illegal votes has broken the law and should be jailed. There needs to be legislation enacted to punished people who knowingly vote illegally. Any government official who is knowingly involved in the facilitation of the inclusion of illegal votes into the vote count of any election needs to face charges and if convicted needs to be imprisoned for no less then ten years. The other option I was thinking of is if said official is convicted, they need to be either face a firing squad and shot until dead or hanged by the neck until dead.
It is all BS, Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for a person to break the law and the fact is if enough of these clowns voted illegally and Trump won as a result then so be it. It is also possible that it could be riled that a number of the votes in question could be considered Biden’s votes due to circumstances and Trump still ends up with more votes. The way I see it the Democrats were given every break in the world and many changes that gave them states they should not have won. In short I believe the election was stolen but it will never be proven and the courts do not want to get involved due to separation of powers clause so our country will suffer four years of hell under Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. God help us and i hope we will not be permanently harmed.
Universal Code of Military Justice law is applicable in this case America was still in war time during the election, usually the UCMJ cannot bother civilians but in this case with election fraud on the Presidential election with the president being commander in chief it fully applies!
A little jail time will make illegal voters pay more attention the next time. There should also be a phone number for them to call if they have any questions–with short wait times. The person responsible for writing the instructions should definitely go to jail. I’ve rarely seen clear and succinct instructions. Clear instructions should be a requirement on ALL government documents.
You must arrest these people that cover up evidence or make excuses for the ones that do. This will stop the people if you put them in jail and fire the ones that are in office.
This type of thing shouldn’t of ever happened and there isn’t an excuse in the world for it,somebody needs to pay for this because the wrong person is sitting in the white house because of it
I shouldn’t have to say this but, it is every citizens civic duty to participate in elections of those that would govern their lives, it is also their civic duty to KNOW how that is achieved. As in the law of the land, there is no excuse for ignorance of the procedures that govern those duties.