45th President Donald J. Trump issued a statement via email from his “Save America” PAC on Monday regarding a report from Georgia Star News, titled: 43,000 Absentee Ballot Votes Counted in DeKalb County 2020 Election Violated Chain of Custody Rule.
43,907 of the 61,731 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes in the November 2020 presidential election in DeKalb County, Georgia–72 percent–were counted in official tallies certified by the county and the state, despite violating chain of custody requirements set forward in Georgia Emergency Rule 183-1-14-1.8-.14 promulgated by the Georgia State Election Board at its July 1, 2020, meeting, Georgia Star News reported.
In a statement on Monday, President Donald Trump said:
Georgia has been caught. What are Kemp and Raffensperger going to do about it?
Or will they sweep it under the table like they have done everything else trying to claim they had an honest election with everybody laughing as they speak.
Read the full article by Laura Baigert with the Georgia Star News here. Continued Below
As reported by Georgia Star News:
That rule states absentee ballots placed in drop boxes, “shall be immediately transported to the county registrar” by the two person collection team, which is required to sign a ballot transfer form indicating the number of ballots picked up, the time the ballots were picked up, and the location of the drop box, and that, “The county registrar or a designee thereof shall sign the ballot transfer form upon receipt of the ballots from the collection team.”
The Georgia Star News obtained 725 absentee ballot drop box transfer forms used in the November 2020 election in DeKalb County to document the chain of custody of the 61,731 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes from the DeKalb County law department in response to an open records request. Continued Below
Those 725 absentee ballot drop box transfer forms can be viewed here.
Of the 61,731 absentee ballots DeKalb County recorded as being deposited into drop boxes during the November 2020 election, 46 percent – or 28,194 of the absentee ballots – were not documented as being received by the elections registrar or the director’s designee until the day after they were collected from the drop box.
The range in which absentee ballots were collected from drop boxes in DeKalb County and documented as received by the registrar the next day was between 13 and 22 hours, or nearly a full day later.
For another 26 percent, representing 15,713 absentee ballots collected from drop boxes during the November 2020 election, there was no receipt time recorded at all by the elections office, as is required by the July 2020 emergency election code rule.
Records for seven full days of the 29-day election period – nearly one quarter – including October 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24 and November 1, fall into this category. Continued Below
All told, 43,907 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes in DeKalb County (28,194 absentee ballots whose chain of custody was accounted for on ballot transfer forms that were signed as received by the registrar’s designee one day after election workers removed them from drop boxes plus 15,713 absentee ballots whose chain of custody was accounted for on ballot transfer forms for with there was no registrar’s designee signature for time or date of receipt) were counted in the certified results of the November 3, 2020 election despite being delivered to the registrar’s office in clear violation of the chain of custody documentation of the Georgia State Election Board’s July 2020 rule.
Vernon Jones (R), who is a candidate in the Republican primary for the 2022 Georgia gubernatorial election against incumbent Governor Brian Kemp (R), also reacted to the report, declaring, “Trump won Georgia!”
In light of this, @BrianKempGA continues to refuse to call for an independent 159 county audit.
What is @BrianKempGA trying to hide?
Follow the money! pic.twitter.com/46ad7nmnhb
— Vernon Jones For Governor (@RepVernonJones) August 30, 2021
Screenshot of President Donald Trump’s email statement:
