AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Republicans across the two state weighed in on the state of their party and the decision to recount.
The Republicans we spoke with said a recount in Georgia and other states is necessary to make sure all votes are legal. They are hearing reports of voter fraud, so they just want to be sure.
“If you’ve got 5 million votes and only 14,000 difference, there can be some discrepancies in that we should count,” said Richmond County Republican Party Chairwoman Sherry Barnes.
She said recounting ballots is the state doing its due diligence in making sure it knows for sure who won the presidency in the Peach State. She told NewsChannel 6 the state Republican Party received calls to its hotline concerning voter fraud, something Congressman Rick Allen said he got calls about too.
“There were complaints that they showed up to vote and they were told they had already voted. Some were turned away, some said ok well you said you hadn’t voted come on in and vote,” Rep. Allen, (R) Georgia said. “Did they vote twice?”
And when it came to this election, Congressman Allen said Dominion, the software provider in many toss up states including Georgia, had glitches.
He said, “This equipment was purchased for the sole purpose to hand count ballots in the event there were issues like this.”
Allen said absentee ballot counting was rushed too, another reason to re-tabulate the presidential race.
While South Carolina is not recounting, Aiken County County GOP Chairman Bob Brookshire said reports of voter fraud reached his office too.
“Talked to someone who is a poll worker and said they were not counting votes for President Trump and people who received postcards from Pennsylvania with a ballot attached that they didn’t ask for,” said Brookshire.
While Joe Biden may be President-elect and Democrats have a few more seats in the United States House, Republicans are trying to keep control of the U.S. Senate.
Brookshire said it’s needed to keep Conservative policies.
“We’re scared to death that Democrats say that they’re going to go after oil and fracking,” he explained adding that Republicans are also for the rule of law and low taxes.
Congressman Allen said he hopes other states follow suit and recount and even though President Trump has led the party in setting records for expanding its base, the close race is another problem.
Rep. Allen added, “[Sen. David] Perdue has a substantial lead, the President has a substantial lead and three days later Perdue is in a runoff and the President is down by 14,000 votes.”
Barnes highlighted that Republicans in Georgia still control the State House and Senate, Governor’s office and other constitutional offices that can make a difference.
