Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue on Thursday proposed creating what he called an Election Law Enforcement Division that would investigate alleged violations of the state’s election laws.
Perdue, in a statement, said Election Law Enforcement Division officers would have the authority to make arrests.
Perdue spokeswoman Jenni Sweat told The Georgia Star News on Thursday that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) would oversee this Election Law Enforcement Division.
“It would be staffed with full-time Georgia Bureau of Investigation members. It would be a law enforcement unit focused on enforcing the laws that are on the books and making sure that we restore confidence in our elections,” Sweat said.
“This whole thing is really about transparency and accountability and making sure that we follow the laws that are on the books and carry through with that.”
Perdue, in an emailed press release, said he wants election results independently audited — before certification.
Last month Perdue and another Georgia resident cited fraud in Fulton County’s 2020 elections and filed a suit seeking greater election transparency. They requested access to Fulton County’s 2020 absentee ballots and absentee envelopes. Lennon said county officials denied her the right to vote.
Perdue’s and Lennon’s suit cited former Fulton County Board of Registration Elections Director Richard Barron. The lawsuit said Barron and others “grossly negligently or intentionally engaged in and/or permitted multiple unlawful election acts and omissions.”
The lawsuit also cited former county election official Susan Voyles. Voyles helped recount votes in 2020’s general election. Voyles said in an affidavit that she handled and observed many absentee ballots that no one had folded. She said a printer — and not a human — had completed those votes. Perdue’s and Lennon’s lawsuit said several batches of absentee ballots were scanned multiple times.
Perdue conceded his reelection bid for the U.S. Senate last year to current Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA).
Members of the Georgia General Assembly in 2020 pushed Governor Brian Kemp to call a special legislative session before the U.S. Senate runoff elections in January of last year.
The special session did not happen. Had such a special session occurred then state legislators would likely have addressed the appointed presidential electors and the implementation of laws limiting voter fraud in the general election runoff.
Kemp, in December 2020, would not use his authority to change the date of the state’s two U.S. Senate elections from January 5 to February 1 of this year. Moving back the date might have given members of the Georgia General Assembly additional time to coordinate and develop ways to prevent potential election fraud.
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “David Perdue” by David Perdue. Background Photo “Voting Booths” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.
