Georgia’s secretary of state is joining other Republicans in calling to end no-excuse absentee voting. It would prevent people from voting by mail without an excuse.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says no-excuse absentee voting “opens the door to potential illegal voting.”
For the past 15 years, Georgia has allowed all voters to submit absentee ballots without needed a reason for why they can’t vote in person. Raffensperger says this makes no sense when the state has three weeks of in-person early voting available. When asked why he supports the reform, his lawyer told Fox News, “It’s harder to provide confidence in that process.”
Raffensperger also called for voter ID for absentee ballots instead of signature matching, which is more prone to fraud.
He made the remarks at a Georgia House committee hearing where he again dismissed allegations of voter fraud in the November election.
On the same day, his office said election officials are also being spread too thin: “Georgia’s county elections officials are effectively tasked with running three parallel elections: early, in-person voting; no-excuse absentee by mail voting; and election day voting.”
An election in Georgia next month will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. So far, more than 1.3 million absentee ballots have been requested. And about 1.2 million people have voted early in person.
