Georgia Republican election official says Trump’s false voter fraud claims undermine democracy

Republican election officials in Georgia on Sunday continued to rebut Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, as the outgoing president tries to pressure the governor to help overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state

“The president’s statements are false, they’re misinformation,” Gabriel Sterling, voting system implementation manager for Georgia, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning. “They’re stoking anger and fear among his supporters.”

“This undermines democracy,” said Sterling, who is a Republican. “We have got to get to a point where responsible people act responsibly.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also countered the president’s baseless claims of election fraud on Sunday morning in an interview on “This Week” with ABC.

“We’ve never found systemic fraud, not enough to overturn the election,” he said.

The Republican election officials made their comments a day after Trump appeared at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, where he was campaigning for Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue who face runoff elections. There, he continued to claim without evidence that the election was stolen from him.

The event was intended to encourage turnout for the Jan. 5 runoffs, which will determine the balance of power in the Senate.

“We’re all deeply disturbed about the lying, cheating, robbing, stealing that’s gone on with our elections,” Trump alleged at the rally.

Votes in Georgia have been recounted by hand and affirmed Biden’s win. The results were certified on Nov. 20.

“The President owes it to every American to ensure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not,” said Courtney Parella, deputy national press secretary for Trump’s campaign.

Trump’s allegations around the integrity of the vote come at a pivotal time, with the Senate runoff elections just weeks away. The president is pushing Gov. Brian Kemp to demand a signature audit of ballots and to call for a special session of the legislature in effort to overturn Biden’s win.

“It is time for leaders in the national security community, in the Republican party to stand up, accept the results and move forward,” said Chris Krebs, the former director of the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency at the Department of Homeland Security.

Krebs, a lifelong Republican who was fired by Trump last month, appeared on “Face the Nation” on CBS Sunday morning.

“Every court case or filing has been rejected by the courts,” he said. “And so any fraud claims, any security claims, any sorts of things along those lines, we’re just not seeing supporting evidence.”

“It is time to move on,” Krebs said. “You should have confidence, particularly Georgia voters, should have confidence in the election. They need to get out for the Jan. 5 Senate runoff.”