The head of the Georgia Republican Party alleged that officials in Fulton County, Georgia, kept counting ballots at one location for several hours after saying they would shut down 10:30 p.m. on Election Night.
“Let me repeat. Fulton County elections officials told the media and our observers that they were shutting down the tabulation center at State Farm Arena at 10:30 p.m. on election night only to continue counting ballots in secret until 1:00 a.m.,” said David Shafer, the head of the state’s GOP, on Twitter.
He added, “No one disputes that Fulton County elections officials falsely announced that the counting of ballots would stop at 10:30 p.m. No one disputes that Fulton County elected officials unlawfully resumed the counting of ballots after our observers left the center.”
Richard Barron, the chief of the Fulton County Elections, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that he sent home workers at around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 3, and claimed that GOP observers thought the process was done for the night. But five county workers stayed to do the final tally of ballots until 1 a.m., he told the AJC, which claimed there is no evidence of fraud or irregularities last week.
Barron said a state observer was also present. Barron said that he was aware that there was a mistake, saying the GOP was welcome to observe.
Fulton County officials on Tuesday have not yet responded to a request for comment after Shafer’s remarks.
Fulton County, which heavily leans Democrat, includes the state’s largest city, Atlanta. According to election data, Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by about 12,000 votes in Georgia.
Shafter also claimed that Atlanta Journal-Constitution is allegedly “gaslighting [voters] when they report that there is no evidence of irregularity in the election.”
It comes as Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, said he would not step down from his position after Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) called for him to resign amid the allegations of irregularities.
“Earlier today Senators Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation,” he said in a statement Monday. “Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”
“As Secretary of State, I’ll continue to fight every day to ensure fair elections in Georgia, that every legal vote counts, and that illegal votes don’t count,” Raffensperger continued.
Perdue and Loeffler said that voters in the Peach State “are outraged” by the reports, asserting he “failed the people of Georgia” and must immediately step down.
“We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process,” they said, echoing a claim from President Donald Trump.
While a number of news outlets have called the race for Democratic candidate Joe Biden, The Epoch Times has not called the winner of the race, owing to outstanding legal challenges and vote-counting efforts.
