Lindsey Graham said he talked to multiple secretaries of state about voter fraud. They say that's not true.


Elections officials across the country have a problem with Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) "just asking questions" shtick.
Even before President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election, President Trump and his allies have been relentlessly questioning the results. While some of Trump's supporters have launched mostly-failed legal challenges to throw out votes in swing states Biden won, Graham took another approach, claiming he is innocently trying to investigate election integrity in states Biden coincidentally won.
Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) disputed Graham's methods on Monday, saying the senator asked him to "look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out." Gabriel Sterling, an aide to Raffensperger, confirmed that account to CNN on Tuesday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In what seemed like to be another attempt to add legitimacy to his investigation, Graham said Tuesday he also talked to the secretaries of state in Arizona and Nevada — two states that Biden won, but also took a while to count their votes. But Arizona's Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) said she hadn't heard from Graham.
Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske (D) said the same, though Graham said he may have talked to some other election official in the state. Kathryn Krawczyk
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
An ancient Israeli cave teaches new archaeological lessons
The Explainer The cave is believed to be one of the world's oldest burial sites
-
Music reviews: Tyler Childers and Madonna
Feature "Snipe Hunter" and "Veronica Electronica"
-
Art review: Noah Davis
Feature Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, through Aug. 31
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein files
Speed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil
Speed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote
Speed Read More than 51 legislators fled the state in protest of the GOP's plan to redraw congressional districts
-
Trump criticized for firing BLS chief after jobs report
Speed Read Bureau of Labor Statistics chief Erika McEntarfer oversaw a July jobs report that the president claims was rigged
-
Trump revives K-12 Presidential Fitness Test
Speed Read The Obama administration phased the test out in 2012, replacing it with a program focused on overall health rather than standardized benchmarks
-
El Salvador scraps term limits, boosting Nayib Bukele
Speed Read New constitutional changes will allow presidents to seek reelection an indefinite number of times
-
Trump assigns tariffs, delays all except on Canada
Speed Read A 35% tariff on many Canadian goods has gone into effect