With votes scheduled for Tuesday night in the two rounds of narrow run-off in the Senate in Georgia, President Donald Trump expected state election officials to announce a large slice of the results that would overwhelm the Republican candidates. He hinted that it would be an act of voter fraud.
They seem to be creating a large “voter store” against the Republican candidates. Waiting to know how many votes they need? The president tweeted before 10:30 PM ET.
In reality, however, such fluctuations in lead and release of voting results during elections are common and commonplace.
How is it normal?
It reflects the usual ebb and flow of a process that entails scheduling and releasing huge batches of results, with leads often changing as the count goes on.
For example, Floyd County, Georgia, the Republican stronghold where Trump had previously held a rally, released all of its results Tuesday in one big ballot around 10 p.m., leading to early returns for Republican candidates Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue.
Candidate progress fluctuations can be particularly pronounced when recording votes in densely populated counties, which often favor Democratic candidates.
Why are the president’s assertions so familiar?
Trump’s tweet revisits a similar unfounded claim he made about his November loss to President-elect Joe Biden. Trump jumped to the lead early in Election Day on multiple battlefields, but as ballots continued to be counted by mail, Biden eventually overtook him.
How has he participated in Georgia since then?
Trump has repeatedly claimed – and wrongly – that his loss of Biden was the product of widespread voter fraud. He kept a special rage for Georgia, where the two competitions were being held.
During a phone call with Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State on Saturday – recorded and later leaked to the media – Trump has repeatedly argued that the secretary, Brad Ravensburger, could change the approved results until he wins. He also urged him to “find 11,780 votes” that would outpace Biden’s sidelines.
“We have at least 2 or 3 – 250 to 300,000 ballots have been mysteriously dropped on the rolls. A lot of that relates to Fulton County, which has not been verified,” he said Saturday during a phone call with Ravensberger.
Ravensberger has repeatedly refused Trump’s request and his office has run numerous sorting and recounting operations. All of them confirmed Biden’s victory.
