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Another threat to election officialsAt least four swatting incidents have been aimed at the homes of senior officials who oversee or work to secure elections since December. Separately, a Department of Justice taskforce launched in 2021 has reviewed more than 2,000 allegations of hostility, harassment, abuse, or threats to election officials and staffers, a department spokesperson said. Swatting was featured in a tabletop exercise for election officials in New Jersey last month, a spokesperson for the secretary of state told CNN. Such incidents have prompted The Elections Group, a consulting group led by former election officials, to begin sharing resources on swatting with election workers and incorporating the topic into trainings. A wave of election officials have departed their roles since November 2020, when false claims of a stolen election proliferated.
Persons: Jay Ashcroft, ” Ashcroft, State Jay Ashcroft, Kacen Bayless, , Ashcroft, Gabriel Sterling, , we’ll, Sterling, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, swatting, ” Jennifer Doebler, Alan Winston Filion, Filion “, Filion, Jennifer Doebler, Lauren R, Shapiro, Republican Sen, Rick Scott of, Scott’s, Sen, Rick Scott swatting, “ Sir, there’s, “ It’s, Swatting, State Shenna Bellows, Bellows, Donald Trump, Trump, Ashcroft’s, Joe Biden, Tina Barton, ” Barton Organizations: CNN, Missouri’s, Republican, State, Kansas City Star, TNS, Getty, FBI, of Justice, Local, Sandy, John Jay College of Criminal, swatting, , Naples Police, , Trump, Elections, Commission Locations: Jefferson City , Missouri, Missouri, Maine , Georgia, Virginia, Sterling, Britain, Sandy Springs, Kansas, Tennessee, California, Rick Scott of Florida, Naples , Florida, Naples, New Jersey, Georgia, Maine
"It was determined to be a hoax ... Nikki Haley is not on the island and her son is with her." Law enforcement agencies have not publicly identified a suspect in the Haley case or in other high-profile swatting cases. Reuters has documented at least 27 swatting incidents of politicians, prosecutors, election officials and judges since November 2023, ranging from Georgia Republican state officials to hoaxes this month against Democrat Joe Biden's residence at the White House. Senator Rick Scott on Dec. 27, weeks after he endorsed Trump, according to records from the Naples Police Department. A caller identifying himself as "Jamal" also targeted Georgia Republican state senator John Albers on Dec. 26, according to an incident report from the Roswell Police Department.
Persons: Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Trump, State Shenna Bellows, Marjorie Taylor Greene, swatting, Haley, Craig Harris, Kiawah, Harris, Joe Biden's, Jamal, Rick Scott, Scott wasn't, John Albers, State Jay Ashcroft, Ashcroft, Scott, Albers, Gabriel Sterling, Sterling Organizations: Grappone, Authorities, South, Republican, Reuters, State, Trump, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Georgia Republican, White, Republican U.S, Naples Police Department, Police Department, Roswell Police Department, Missouri, Jefferson City Police Department, Atlanta Locations: Concord , New Hampshire, South Carolina, U.S, Maine, Kiawah, South Carolina's, Iowa, New Hampshire, Georgia, Florida, Naples, Missouri
ATLANTA (AP) — An attempt to state that Georgia's appointed State Election Board has the legal power to investigate Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's handling of elections blossomed into a constitutional showdown Tuesday, with a lawyer for Raffensperger saying board members can't legally oversee him. “We’re looking to empower the State Election Board so that they can have oversight responsibility and that there’s no confusion about where that oversight responsibility is vested,” said Ethics Committee Chairman Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican. Activists have been pushing the State Election Board to investigate whether Raffensperger mishandled his audit of Fulton County's 2020 results, motivated by unproven claims of fraud. The board deadlocked 2-2 in December on whether it had such authority, and two board members asked lawmakers to clarify the law. Supporters said they can go forward because most of Raffensperger's election responsibilities are outlined in state law, not the Georgia Constitution.
Persons: Brad Raffensperger's, Charlene McGowan, Raffensperger's, Bill, , Max Burns, It's, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Raffensperger, Fulton, it's, , Steve Gooch, ” McGowan, Lawmakers, Gabriel Sterling, Sterling, John LaHood, LaHood, Jon Burns, let’s, ” Sen Brandon Beach Organizations: ATLANTA, Republican, Raffensperger, Board, Sylvania Republican, Democratic, Georgia, Georgia General Assembly, Governmental, Valdosta Republican Locations: Georgia, Valdosta
Swatting Is a Political Problem - The New York Times
  + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Barbara Mcquade | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +3 min
In a year with so much political and legal tension, law enforcement is seeing a disturbing trend: targeting public officials with swatting, or false emergency calls intended to draw a heavily armed police response. Recent incidents involving officials who have taken stands seen as hostile to Donald Trump and bomb threats in multiple state capitols are signs of a troubling escalation in political violence. In addition, swatting diverts law enforcement resources from real emergencies. But more insidiously, these tactics are tools of intimidation, designed to silence voices in the political process. The frequency and visibility of these incidents suggest that swatting and political violence require prosecutors to prioritize their efforts to stop it.
Persons: Donald Trump, swatting, Tanya S, Chutkan, Trump, Jack Smith, , Gabriel Sterling, Trump’s, Arthur Engoron, Shenna Bellows, isn’t, Michigan’s, Gretchen Whitmer Organizations: Republican, Locations: Kansas, Georgia, York, New Jersey
CNN —The judge overseeing the Fulton County election racketeering case declined Tuesday to send one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants to jail over recent social media posts and other comments he made targeting witnesses. He does not get an ‘oh, I’m sorry,’ after I’ve already intimidated the witnesses in this case,” Willis said. The felonies Floyd faces in the case are largely tied to his role in an intimidation campaign targeting two Atlanta election workers in late 2020. The leader of Black Voices for Trump, Floyd was separately charged in May with simple assault of a federal officer who was delivering a subpoena to him to testify before a grand jury in Washington, DC. He said that Floyd’s posts about Freeman have led to a “spike” in online activity targeting Freeman.
Persons: Donald Trump’s, Scott McAfee, Harrison Floyd, , he’s, codefendants, , Fani Willis, I’ve, ” Willis, McAfee, , Floyd, Trump, Trump’s, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows, Chris Kachouroff, ” Kachouroff, Jenna Ellis, Ruby Freeman, Ruby, Michael Hill, Black, Black Trump Guy ’, Willis interjected, ” Hill, Willis, Gabriel Sterling, you’re, ” Sterling, Von DuBose, Freeman Organizations: CNN, Trump, Fulton, Dems, Black Trump, it’s Locations: Fulton, ” Fulton County, Atlanta, Washington , DC, Trump, Fulton County, Georgia
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor pursuing a case against former President Donald Trump and others on Wednesday asked a judge to revoke the bond of defendant Harrison Floyd, saying he has been intimidating witnesses and codefendants in the case. Floyd, Trump and 17 others were indicted in August by a Fulton County grand jury, accused of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. The charges against Floyd stem from allegations of harassment of Ruby Freeman, a Fulton County election worker who had been falsely accused of election fraud by Trump and his supporters. Chris Kachouroff, an attorney for Floyd, said District Attorney Fani Willis' attempt to revoke his client's bond was nonsense, adding, “She's not going to get it granted." In addition to the charges in Georgia, Floyd also faces federal charges that accuse him of aggressively confronting two FBI agents sent to serve him with a grand jury subpoena.
Persons: Donald Trump, Harrison Floyd, Floyd, Trump, Ruby Freeman, Freeman, Prosecutors, codefendants, , Chris Kachouroff, Fani Willis, “ She's, Willis, Brad Raffensperger, Gabriel Sterling, , Jenna Ellis, Ellis, Wandrea, ” Moss, Stephen Cliffgard Lee, Lee, Trevian Kutti, Kelly, Kutti Organizations: ATLANTA, Wednesday, Jail, Farm Arena, Trump, Kanye, FBI Locations: The Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton, Illinois, Atlanta, Floyd, Chicago
The electronic voting system the state uses, which was purchased from Dominion Voting Systems in 2019 and implemented statewide in 2020, has been the subject of outlandish conspiracy theories. When it was initially filed in 2017, it targeted the paperless touchscreen voting machines that Georgia had been using for 15 years. It was then amended to challenge the election system the state bought in 2019, with claims that the new system has similar vulnerabilities. At the upcoming trial, the plaintiffs have “a heavy burden to establish a constitutional violation” connected to the voting system, she wrote. “We look forward to presenting our full evidence at trial and obtaining critical relief for Georgia voters,” said David Cross, an attorney for some of the individual voters.
Persons: Amy Totenberg, Totenberg, , Brad Raffensperger, Alex Halderman, Gabriel Sterling, David Cross, SEB, Marilyn Marks, Raffensperger, ” Marks Organizations: ATLANTA, U.S, Coalition, Good, Georgia, Dominion Voting Systems, Dominion, Trump, Fox News, University of Michigan Locations: Georgia, Coffee County
ATLANTA (AP) — Some Republican lawmakers continued to press Wednesday for changes to protect Georgia's voting system from security weaknesses, but a deputy to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accused them of acting in bad faith and promoting lies that Georgia's 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. The dispute with some Republicans in the state Senate stems from vulnerabilities in Dominion Voting Systems equipment identified by J. Alex Halderman, an expert witness in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s election system. However, they say it's impractical to update all 40,000 electronic voting machines and scanners statewide before the 2024 election cycle begins. Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican, said at the end of the hearing he wanted to see changes. Fueling interest in voting changes are Republican Party activists who say that Georgia's 16 electoral votes were stolen from Trump in 2020.
Persons: Brad Raffensperger, Donald Trump, J, Alex Halderman, Halderman, he's, Gabriel Sterling, We’re, Sterling, , Sen, Brandon Beach, Greg Dolezal, we’re, ” Dolezal, Max Burns, Burns, Raffensperger, Randy Robertson, Rudy Giuliani, Trump, Giuliani, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Ray Smith, Robert Cheeley, Ellis, Steve Gooch, Dahlonega —, Sidney Powell Organizations: ATLANTA, Republican, Voting Systems, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, Cumming Republican, Dominion, Sylvania Republican, Rotary Club, Republican Party, Trump Locations: U.S, Brandon, Fulton, Beach, Georgia
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks on the stage during a campaign rally in Windham, New Hampshire, August 8, 2023. Former President Donald Trump could face an unprecedented fourth indictment over his alleged efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia's 2020 presidential election, and top Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling said Sunday that the criminal cases have been "giving oxygen" to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Sterling, a Republican, said that Trump lost the state in 2020 and that his repeated claims of election fraud have been unsubstantiated. He said Sunday that election-related violence remains his "biggest concern," as individuals could be radicalized to do something "stupid." That presentation could lead to an indictment of the former president in the case on state charges.
Persons: Donald Trump, Gabriel Sterling, Sterling, Trump, Trump's, He's, he's, Fani Willis, Joe Biden Organizations: U.S, Republican, Sunday, ABC, Capitol, NBC News Locations: Windham , New Hampshire, Georgia, U.S, Atlanta, Fulton County
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks on the stage during a campaign rally in Windham, New Hampshire, August 8, 2023. Former President Donald Trump could face an unprecedented fourth indictment over his alleged efforts to overturn his loss in Georgia's 2020 presidential election, and top Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling said Sunday that the criminal cases have been "giving oxygen" to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Sterling, a Republican, said Trump lost the state in 2020 and that his repeated claims of election fraud have been unsubstantiated. Trump in a speech Tuesday in New Hampshire said he expects to be indicted in Georgia soon. "I should have four by sometime next week," Trump said.
Persons: Donald Trump, Gabriel Sterling, Sterling, Trump, Trump's, He's, he's, ABC's, Fani Willis, Joe Biden Organizations: U.S, Republican, Sunday, Capitol, NBC News, Prosecutors, CNN Sunday . Allies Locations: Windham , New Hampshire, Georgia, U.S, Atlanta, Fulton County, Coffee County, New Hampshire
Those weaknesses were previously verified by federal cybersecurity officials, who urged election officials across the country to update their systems. Georgia election officials insist it is highly unlikely that the vulnerabilities will be exploited in real attacks. Georgia officials have dismissed the potential for these weaknesses to be exploited. But Georgia has not implemented the recommended security patch and state officials said they are waiting to do so until after 2024. The report was placed under seal by a judge “given the serious election security concerns” raised by its potential release, according to court records.
Persons: Brad Raffensperger, Mike Hassinger, ” Gabriel Sterling, Alex Halderman, , Halderman, Mitre Organizations: Washington CNN, Republican, CNN, Dominion, Systems, University of Michigan, Mitre Corp Locations: Georgia
A top election official in Georgia took aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for spreading "disproven conspiracies" after she falsely claimed during a House panel on election integrity that former President Donald Trump won the state in the 2020 election. Sterling, who came into the national spotlight when he denounced false claims of election fraud in Georgia after the 2020 election, was one of several elections officers who appeared Tuesday before the GOP-led House Election Integrity Caucus. Greene then made the repeatedly disproven assertion that there were "thousands" of dead voters whose ballots were counted in Georgia. "I'm going to follow up with one more thing: Trump won Georgia," Greene said, before voicing more election conspiracies, including the debunked claim that "suitcases" full of ballots were secretly scanned in Atlanta. Trump never conceded the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
CNN —The strong turnout in Georgia’s runoff election that cemented Democrats’ control of the US Senate is sparking fresh debate about the impact of the state’s controversial 2021 election law and could trigger a new round of election rule changes next year in the Republican-led state legislature. “There’s no truth to voter suppression,” Raffensperger said in an interview this week with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, a day after Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock secured reelection in the first federal election cycle since Georgia voting law took effect. State election officials had opposed casting ballots on that date, saying Georgia law prohibited voting on a Saturday if there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before. In the CNN interview earlier this week, Raffensperger suggested that the Republican-controlled General Assembly might revisit some of the state’s election rules, including potentially lowering to 45% the threshold needed to win a general election outright. “There will be a push for this in the upcoming legislative session,” said Daniel Baggerman, president of Better Ballot Georgia, a group advocating for the instant runoff.
We’re going to win Georgia,” Biden said in response to questions regarding his outlook on the Georgia Senate runoff contest as he exited Air Force One Tuesday night. Share this -Link copiedWarnock defeats Walker in Georgia Senate runoff, NBC News projects Sen. Raphael Warnock has won his second statewide runoff election in the last two years, defeating Republican Herschel Walker in the increasingly purple state of Georgia to capture a six-year term in the Senate, NBC News projected. Share this -Link copiedThe Senate runoff election is still too close to call, but Warnock leads The Senate runoff election between Warnock and Walker is still too close to call, but Warnock leads, NBC News' Decision Desk said just before 10 p.m. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker.
With 72% of the estimated vote tallied, Warnock led Walker by 50.4% to 49.6%, according to Edison Research. The race was the most expensive of the 2022 U.S. midterm election season, with more than $400 million spent. [1/10] Reverend Raphael Warnock, Democratic Senator for Georgia, delivers remarks during a visit at a campaign office during the midterm Senate runoff elections in Norcross, Georgia, U.S., December 6, 2022. The truth is my opponent could still win this election," Warnock told a crowd in Norcross, Georgia, on Tuesday. This is the third Senate runoff in two years in the state - and the second for Warnock, who first won the seat in a runoff in January 2021.
The turnout in the Senate runoff was nearly 75% to 80% of the entire turnout for the midterm election in November. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has a massive ad-spending and fundraising advantage over Republican Herschel Walker in the runoff election. In the 2022 general election, Warnock grew his advantage in Henry County, winning it by just over 31 points.
Share this -Link copiedGroups work to mobilize Latino voters in Georgia Senate runoff From giving away bingo-like Mexican lotería cards to Taco Tuesdays and World Cup watch parties, Latino voting mobilization efforts ramped up in Georgia leading into the Senate runoff election. Share this -Link copiedPolls close soon in critical Georgia Senate runoff Polls are closing at 7 p.m. ET in the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is hoping to fend off a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has a massive ad-spending and fundraising advantage over Republican Herschel Walker in the runoff election. In the 2022 general election, Warnock grew his advantage in Henry County, winning it by just over 31 points.
As Senate runoff nears, Herschel Walker’s ex-girlfriend details abuse As the U.S. Senate runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock and football legend Herschel Walker reaches its final hours, an ex-girlfriend of Walker is sharing details of what she says is his abusive behavior toward her. Cheryl Parsa, 61, told NBC News on Sunday that she was in a five-year relationship with Walker in the 2000s. Share this -Link copiedGeorgia Senate runoff smashes early voting records — and attracts new voters ATLANTA — Georgia has set new records for early voting again as the two Senate candidates blitz the state ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election. White voters made up 55% of early voters, 32% are Black, and Latinos and Asian Americans each accounted for less than 2% of the total. Now, Democrats see an opening to weaponize it to finish the job against Walker in the runoff, when a victory would give their party a 51st Senate seat.
ATLANTA–Well over 1 million people went to the polls Tuesday in a runoff to determine whether incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock goes back to Washington or is replaced by GOP challenger Herschel Walker , according to Georgia officials. Most polls closed at 7 p.m., and Tuesday’s voting went smoothly with few problems across the state, according to Gabriel Sterling , chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees elections. Election day followed record-breaking early voting in the runoff in which about 1.85 million in-person and mail-in votes had been tallied by Dec. 2, the last day of early voting.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. in Georgia for in-person voting Tuesday in the fierce Senate runoff election between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Turnout in the early vote had already crushed some runoff records for the nation's most competitive electoral battleground. Earlier in the campaign, Walker had acknowledged fathering multiple other children who were not previously known to be related to him. That voting period was extended after the Warnock campaign won a state lawsuit to allow early voting on the weekend after Thanksgiving. With a narrower window to vote early, voters in Georgia have reportedly been stuck in hourslong waits at polling sites.
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for Georgia's Secretary of State Office, reacts to former President Donald Trump's post on his social media app Truth Social, where he called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election.
ATLANTA — Georgia has set new records for early voting again as the two Senate candidates blitz the state ahead of Tuesday’s runoff election. White voters made up 55% of early voters, 32% were Black, and Latinos and Asian Americans each accounted for less than 2% of the total. Among Georgians under 30 years old, 15.5% of early runoff voters didn’t turn out for the general election. A resident fills out paperwork before early voting at a polling station in Atlanta on Tuesday. Another 32% of early voters are age 50 to 64, and 30% are younger than 50.
Georgia voters on Friday cast over 350,000 ballots, setting a one-day statewide early voting record. The previous one-day early voting record was on Tuesday when nearly 310,000 voters cast ballots. On Friday night, Sterling praised the efforts of election officials and precinct workers who had prepared for early voting, which began in some localities last week. Before Friday, the one-day record for early voting in Georgia was set during the 2018 midterm cycle, when 233,000 people voted on the last day of early voting that year. Headed into Election Day on Tuesday, turnout among Georgia voters sat at 26.4% as of December 3, per the secretary of state's office.
Georgia set a new record Tuesday with 309,083 early votes cast for the state's runoff election, eclipsing the previous record set just one day prior. Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer at the Georgia Secretary of State's office, tweeted the news early Tuesday evening, hours after he joined Meet the Press NOW to discuss the uptick in turnout. Sterling noted that early voting on Sunday more than doubled the previous record for most early votes on a Sunday, with that momentum carrying forward into the week. "2021 was a very unique runoff with two Senate races and I think every dollar in America from Democrats, Republicans, independents alike all being funneled into one state for one get-out-the-vote sale two months after the initial election," he said. "We anticipate seeing a record for a four-week, turnout."
Georgia's early-voter turnout is accelerating in the high-profile Senate runoff race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Trump-backed Republican Herschel Walker — even after voters already crushed the state's in-person record for early voting the previous day. "As of noon, we've had 118,130 Georgians cast an early vote today," Sterling tweeted, adding, "Don't know if it will stay that rapid." The data show that more than 48% of early voters are white and about 38% are Black, and that Black voters are showing up to vote early at a higher turnout rate. The early voter turnout also appears to skew female, 55% to 44%, according to the state elections office. The Dec. 6 runoff in Georgia was scheduled after neither Warnock nor Walker won more than 50% of the vote in the November general election.
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