Georgia Republican election official debunks Trump's election conspiracy theories 'point by point'


A day after the audio of President Trump's controversial phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger leaked to the public, Georgia's voting system implementation manager debunked several of the election conspiracy theories espoused by the commander-in-chief.
During a press conference Monday, Gabriel Sterling — who like Raffensperger is a Republican and has called out Trump before — went point by point to prove the president's allegations of widespread voter fraud were "easily, provably false."
First he addressed Trump's question about whether election officials are shredding ballots in Georgia. The short answer from Sterling was no, but he went on to explain that "there's shredding of envelopes that were the non-used ones, or there's also shredding of the secrecy envelopes that came through" along with mail-in ballots. Sterling said those have "no evidentiary value" and are "basically trash." On the other hand, signature and oath envelopes and the ballots themselves are being kept for 22 months, as required by law.
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.
Next, Sterling hit the president's claim that people were "changing parts" of Dominion voting machines. Sterling was admittedly stumped by this one, not because there was any validity to it, but because "I don't know even know what that means ... I don't even know how exactly to explain that."
Growing exasperated, Sterling quickly clarified that Raffensperger does not have a brother named Ron who works for Huawei, and then broke down why there was no "hacking of Dominion during a Senate hearing last week." Ballot marking devices and scanners don't have modems, he said, and "it's very hard to hack things that don't have modems." Watch the clip below.Tim O'Donnell
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
July 6 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include paying for school lunch by enlisting, and the banality of evil
-
5 biting editorial cartoons about 'Alligator Alcatraz'
Cartoons Artists take on dangerous green things, historical precedent, and more
-
A journey into the deep past on beautiful Arran
The Week Recommends New Unesco Global Geopark played a 'key role' in the birth of modern geological science
-
Ukraine scrambles as Trump cuts weapons deliveries
Speed Read The halting of weapons shipments was driven by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a Ukraine funding skeptic
-
IAEA: Iran could enrich uranium 'within months'
Speed Read The chief United Nations nuclear inspector, Rafael Grossi, says Iran could be enriching uranium again soon
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
Iran nukes program set back months, early intel suggests
Speed Read A Pentagon assessment says US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites only set the program back by months, not years. This contradicts President Donald Trump's claim.
-
Trump says Iran and Israel agreed to ceasefire
Speed Read This followed a night of Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and multiple waves of missiles fired by Iran
-
Israel strikes Iran, killing military and nuclear chiefs
Speed Read Israeli officials said the attack was a 'preemptive' strike on Iran's nuclear program
-
Israel deports Thunberg after seizing Gaza aid boat
speed read The Swedish activist was delivering food and medical aid to Palestine, highlighting the growing humanitarian crisis there
-
Colombian senator shot on streets of Bogotá
speed read Miguel Uribe Turbay, who has announced his candidacy for next year's presidential election, was shot at a rally