Peach Tree Times

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recently stated he is in full support of the approval of Fulton County ballot inspections, saying it will help ensure election security and restore confidence in the voting process for the state. 

Debates have continued through the nation about voter fraud, ballot tampering and calls for inspections. On May 21, a Georgia judge ruled that Fulton County would undergo ballot inspection and review voting machines to debunk the conspiracy theories, AP News reported.

According to The Week, Fulton County has already undergone multiple recounts and audits to ensure that no voting fraud took place in the election of President Joe Biden. 

Following a Facebook post that said Georgia decertified the election result, a group of plaintiffs were issued an order by Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero to inspect and scan the absentee ballots in Fulton County, PolitiFact reported.

Garland Favorito, a longtime critic of Georgia’s election infrastructure and one of the plaintiffs, promoted affidavits signed by poll workers or observers that said ballots were not counted correctly. 

"The purpose of the inspection is to find the truth about the Fulton mail-in ballots so that all Georgians will have the assurance of election transparency," Favorito told PolitiFact.

PolitiFact said that Raffensperger certified the presidential election results in November after an audit and reaffirmed Biden’s win for office. Raffensperger and Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager, repeatedly have said they've found no evidence for voter fraud. Raffensperger’s office also stated he hasn’t sought to decertify the election, and there is no legal process to do such anyway.

"There is no mechanism under Georgia law to decertify an election," Bryan P. Tyson, a Georgia election lawyer who has represented Democrats and Republicans, including Raffensperger, said as reported by PolitiFacts. "If they find problems in an election after it was certified, the only remedy to the election contest is a judge hears evidence and orders a new election if there were enough problems that it could have changed the results. It is rare."

Georgia is not the only state facing debate about the election and people calling for recounts. Among some of the most prominent calls to action by residents for a recount comes out of Michigan, New Hampshire and Arizona. 

According to the Grand Canyon Times, Arizona is undergoing investigations similar that which will take place in Georgia. Maricopa County, the largest county in Arizona, is currently in the midst of a full recount and audit as well. The decision to recount came after audit subcontractor Ben Cotton of CyFIR told the lawmaker he found the deleted files from Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) and duplicate votes in the system. 

Raffensperger told The New York Times he is certain the newest inspection will reaffirm the already multiple recounts and November's results, as reported by The Week. Raffensperger went on to say, in doing this, transparency will be increased, confidence will be restored in the voting process and "hopefully put this to bed," The Week reported.