The 12,000-vote margin for Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia — supported by three ballot counts — resulted in the state’s 16 Electoral College votes being cast for him on Monday. But President Donald Trump and some Republican supporters are still trying to overturn Georgia’s election results, more than six weeks after the election.
While reversing Georgia’s Electoral College votes alone would not turn the tide for Trump — who lost by 7 million individual total votes and 74 Electoral College votes — its relatively small margin of error has made the state integral to Trump’s ongoing fight against the election results.
After dozens of failed lawsuits and repeated recounts that have not changed the outcome, Trump is still pursuing ways to overturn Georgia’s election results. The last stand for people who support his reelection is likely to be Jan. 6, when Congress reviews the vote of the Electoral College.
Here are answers to some common questions about the president’s efforts:
The president is tweeting about a consent decree in Georgia that he says keeps officials from checking signatures to guard against voter fraud. What is that consent decree?
Georgia election officials compare signatures on mail-in ballots against signatures on file, to make sure it’s the same person voting as the one who registered to vote.
Democrats sued after the 2018 election, saying the state’s practices in checking signatures were disproportionately blocking votes from minority populations. In March of this year, that lawsuit was settled, with Democratic leaders and state officials entering into an agreement called a consent decree.
In that agreement, the state agreed not to reject ballots unless a suspect signature was reviewed by at least three registrars or clerks, and a majority of them agreed the signature was invalid. Previously, signatures could be rejected by a single election official.
[DOCUMENT: Compromise settlement agreement » arkansasonline.com/1220agreement/]
The state also agreed to be more prompt and resourceful in contacting voters whose ballots were being rejected — giving them an opportunity to resolve the situation. The state agreed to timelines to make those notifications and agreed to make efforts such as placing phone calls to the number a voter listed on registration forms.
Trump has objected to the provisions. In November, he tweeted, “Consent Decree signed by the Georgia Secretary of State, with the approval of Governor @BrianKempGA, at the urging of @staceyabrams, makes it impossible to check & match signatures on ballots and envelopes, etc. They knew they were going to cheat. Must expose real signatures!”
Does the consent decree block officials from checking signatures?
No. State elections officials say it remains possible to check signatures under the provisions of the consent decree — in fact, it’s required by law for them to do so. The consent decree does not prevent election officials from vetting signatures, but spells out a procedure for doing so.
Under the procedures, 2,011 absentee ballots were rejected in the November 2020 election for missing or non-matching signatures out of 1,322,529 absentee ballots cast, representing a 0.15% rejection rate for signature issues. That’s consistent with the 2018 General Election, according to the Secretary of State’s office, an indication that the new procedure does not make it impossible to check signatures and has not reduced the rate of rejections.
What about in-person ballots? Are they checked the same way?
No. For in-person balloting, voters are required to show a photo ID for verification.
Was everyone in Georgia mailed an absentee ballot, whether they asked for it or not?
No. While all eligible voters in Georgia were able to request mail-in ballots, ballots were not automatically issued to voters.
The president wants a special session of the legislature in Georgia. What for?
Last week, Trump tweeted to call for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature to help him invalidate the results and be declared the winner.
“Has anyone informed the so-called (says he has no power to do anything!) Governor @BrianKempGA & his puppet Lt. Governor @GeoffDuncanGA, that they could easily solve this mess, & WIN. Signature verification & call a Special Session. So easy!”
Under the Electoral Count Act of 1887, electors may be chosen by the legislature when a state “has failed to make a choice” in a presidential election, “in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.” While the Georgia legislature could call a special session if at least 60% of members in both houses of the General Assembly signed on, that is improbable since over 40% of the legislature is made up of Democrats.
Why isn’t Kemp calling one?
A special session has to be called by the state legislators. And even though he does not have the authority, Kemp along with Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan issued a statement last weekend, denouncing any attempt by the legislature to overturn the November election results, calling the idea unconstitutional and suggesting it would be “immediately enjoined by the courts, resulting in a long legal dispute and no short-term resolution.”
“State law is clear: the legislature could only direct an alternative method for choosing presidential electors if the election was not able to be held on the date set by federal law,” the statement reads. “In the 1960s, the General Assembly decided that Georgia’s presidential electors will be determined by the winner of the state’s popular vote.”
There have been some proposals to change Georgia election laws, what are they?
Some Republican senators in Georgia have called for stronger absentee voter requirements, most prominently the addition of a photo ID requirement to submit an absentee ballot.
According to the Associated Press, the voter ID proposal for future elections has been more widely popular among Georgia Republicans than calls to undo results of the November election after the fact.
“Voters casting their ballots in person must show a photo ID, and we should consider applying that same standard to mail-in balloting,” Kemp said of the proposal.
Would such changes take effect in time for the Jan. 5 runoff election for Georgia’s two seats in the U.S. Senate?
Not likely. The Georgia General Assembly will not reconvene without a special session until Jan. 11, 2021. Only four Republican senators have pushed for a special session.