Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s top elected officials, have released a joint statement to dismiss any requests for a general assembly special session to address problems in the election process. They have refused to change this process of choosing electors for the Electoral College.
The statement entails that even though a few members of the state’s senate are calling for a special session of the general assembly, this cannot be done because, under state and federal laws, a session only for choosing new presidential electors is not permissible.
They have made it clear that this would be illegal. Citing the state law, they explain that separate presidential electors can only be selected if the state did not arrange the election as specified by law. It was decided in the General Assembly of the 1960s that the state’s presidential electors would be chosen by the candidate who won Georgia’s popular vote.
They have stated that if they try to alter the process only for this election, courts would prohibit it because it is unconstitutional. According to their statement, any concerns about the election process will be addressed using the current judicial system.
This news was reported immediately a day after Kemp received a call from Trump to persuade the Governor to hold a special session, which the latter refused. He has also tweeted at the Governor requesting him to gather the legislature for a meeting.
Lt. Gov Duncan has also spoken up against voter fraud allegations and Trump’s efforts to change the election outcome. He has also criticized the death threats and harassment that election workers and officials have been subjected to.
He also stated in an interview that he believes the election was fair and legal. He added that their team is addressing one-off issues, but they’re common in every election.
He proceeded to add that he voted for Trump as well and even though he did not win, it does not change the fact that the governor has a job description that he needs to abide by regardless of the results of the election.
Georgia has so far conducted the original count, a hand audit as well as another recount that was an appeal by Donald Trump. The results of several recounts have decided that President-elect Joe Biden is the winner of the state’s 16 electoral votes.
