ZACHARY: Georgia election not stolen | Columns | valdostadailytimes.com – Valdosta Daily Times

The 2020 U.S. presidential election was not stolen. 

Not liking the outcome of an election and saying it was stolen are two vastly different things. 

Differing political ideologies, and the freedom to express those views, is what makes democracy work. 

Falsely claiming an election is fraudulent – that is an attack on democracy.

Once again, a court has said there is no evidence of a stolen election.

This time, a Georgia judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging fraud in the Fulton County vote count. 

Investigators told the court, after a thorough probe, there was no evidence of the false claims.

This story has been repeated over and over again across the country. 

How many times will it take for local elections offices, investigators, independent audits, secretaries of state, Congress and judges to declare the 2020 election valid before partisans will accept it? 

Superior Court Judge Brian Amero’s ruling effectively said the Fulton County 2020 vote count is long over and there is no need to once again revisit and review the 147,000 absentee ballots cast. 

The case is settled. 

Georgia has endured three ballot counts and multiple investigations and the results have always been the same, with Democrat Joe Biden defeating Republican Donald Trump in our state by about 12,000 votes.

Yes, the judge’s ruling was more about process and standing, saying the plaintiffs basically had not shown how they were damaged or had standing to bring the case, but the state investigation considered by the court once again found no evidence of fraud. 

Once again, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger adamantly said there was no widespread fraud or illegal voting to the extent it would have changed the results of the election. 

Again, case settled. 

All of the lawsuits based on stolen election conspiracy theories are a waste of time and taxpayer money because there is quite simply no there, there. 

At this point, none of this is about Democrats winning or Republicans winning. It is all about the integrity of open and free elections and, since all elections happen locally, it is about the trustworthiness of local elections offices, poll workers and community volunteers. 

Once people buy into the unsubstantiated, massive conspiracy theory that an election can be stolen on a national scale, they lose all trust in our electoral processes and simply have no incentive to vote. 

Is that what anyone wants? 

Republicans have a lot to gain in 2022 and 2024. Continuing down the conspiracy theory path is not the way to get there. 

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. 

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