Georgia Republicans split on congressional Electoral College challenge

After a small get-out-the-vote event in McDonough, Georgia, organized by Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Chuck Blakley, 57, urged GOP members on Capitol Hill to contest the outcome because he believed there was “a considerable amount of fraud” in the Nov. 3 count. Yet he was realistic regarding what the procedural protest could achieve.

“I expect they’ll be unsuccessful,” Blakley told the Washington Examiner, citing Democratic control of the House.

For Blakley, the Wednesday demonstration was important because “the election was too sloppily run in numerous states.” And he predicted it would have a lingering impact on Biden’s presidency.

“For me, it will leave a question mark,” he said. “But I think the majority of people will accept the results and play it by ear from there, not necessarily say, “Oh, we’ve got to rise up and create a problem.'”

In between filming and taking photos of Loeffler, Shawn Collins said her priority was a thorough audit to ensure integrity and confidence.

“It’s not about the person that I wanted didn’t win,” the local government employee, 50, added. “There’s corruption, there’s fraud, there’s lies. It just needs to be brought to light.”

Jeff Pruitt, 57, echoed that the Electoral College outcome would be final. Yet he argued it was within lawmakers’ rights to challenge the vote before Biden is inaugurated president on Jan. 20.

Pruitt was also less concerned about the objection process’s affect on Biden’s incoming administration, comparing it to former special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s federal Russia investigation.

“No more harmful than when people questioned Donald Trump’s agenda,” the property manager said of the contrast. “We went through, what, four years of Russian collusion? So what’s a few months of what’s going on now?”

While Blakley’s, Collins’s, and Pruitt’s views are widely held by Trump allies, Ronnie Carmack, 62, disagreed.

“In my opinion, my humble opinion, there was voter fraud, but I just don’t think it’s ever going to play out, and I think it’s going to be detrimental to our way of whatever,” the small-business owner said.

He continued, “I feel like the things I believe in are being trampled on, but, on the flip side of it, I’m not ready for some crazy, bizarre government. But the Trump people aren’t happy.”

About half of his Republican friends shared the same perspective, according to Carmack. He considered Wednesday Trump’s deadline to dispute the election, particularly because the country was so bitterly divided. He contended that situation had been exacerbated by the news media.

“If it’s just not there, then what are you going to do?” he asked. “Let it be done and gone, and then start all over.”

Loeffler announced Monday night at Trump’s rally in Dalton that she wouldn’t approve of Georgia’s electoral votes on Wednesday. The move was interpreted as a last-ditch effort to encourage Republican turnout, especially in Georgia’s more conservative rural regions. Incumbent GOP Sen. David Perdue’s six-year term expired on Sunday, so he won’t be seated for the joint session of Congress convened to certify the final tally.

The parallel Senate runoffs, Loeffler’s against Democratic Rev. Raphael Warnock and Perdue’s against filmmaker Jon Ossoff, were essentially tied before Election Day. If the Democrats prevail in both races, the parties will have 50 seats apiece in the chamber. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will then be called on to break any ties.

On Wednesday, the House and Senate will meet to discuss the Electoral College results. If a member of the House and Senate each lodge a complaint, the chambers separate to debate that state for two hours before it is then voted on. So far, only Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania have bicameral consensus. House lawmakers are seeking senatorial partners for Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.