Statement of Common Cause Georgia on Jan. 6 Committee’s Focus on Attempts to Discount Georgia Voters

ATLANTA — The nation will hear this afternoon about the harassment Georgia election workers faced after false claims about ballot mishandling were floated by Trump. 

Elections officials from Georgia will be testifying today at the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack . Testifiers will include local election workers like  Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, a Fulton County election worker who experienced harassment and death threats after Trump and his supporters falsely accused her of mishandling ballots. She subsequently went into hiding because of the harassment from Trump supporters. Moss will be speaking on a panel about the effects of Trump and his associates pushing false theories.

Also testifying will be Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger and his assistant Gabe Sterling.  A previously leaked Jan. 2, 2021 call between former President Donald Trump and Raffensperger shocked the nation after Trump told Raffenspeger to illegally “find” 11,780 votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.

Raffensperger correctly refused to disregard the voices of millions of Georgian voters and the election results in Georgia were recounted three times to affirm Joe Biden was Georgia’s choice for president. Raffensperger commended the integrity of the state’s election in December 2020, noting that the votes of Georgian citizens “were counted accurately, fairly, and reliably,” but he has since taken positions that undermine the ability of Georgians to vote without barriers. 

The hearings begin at 1 p.m. today and are being streamed from the committee’ website here.

Statement of Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis

The anti-voter actions of Brad Raffensperger can’t be ignored or swept under the rug. 

He should not be mistaken as a hero of democracy here in Georgia. 

Rather, he has repeatedly refused to back common sense solutions that would make it easier for people to vote. He spearheaded an effort to increase the policing of our elections, which will deter some from voting.g election policing. He also backed the anti-voter SB 202, the harmful anti-voter law passed last year that makes it hard for too many of us to exercise our fundamental voting rights.

We do appreciate the strides the secretary of state’s office has made to debunk the harmful myths about a stolen election. We hope the office continues to proactively engage voters by conducting transparent hand recounts in our November elections to underscore that our election process is safe and secure. 

I urge every Georgian to watch today’s hearings. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that since the 2020 election, when record numbers of Georgians went to the polls, we have seen significant setbacks here in Georgia when it comes to voter access.

The right to vote in our nation is a sacred one, and that’s why our elections need to be free and fair. That also means making voting more accessible, and not less, so that every eligible citizen can have their voice heard.