GA Secretary of State Calls Dem Calls for Extended Hours on Early Voting “Grandstanding”We told you yesterday about the Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s refusal to extend early voting hours after record turnout across the state. Handel claimed her hands were tied because of Department of Justice rules which require Georgia to received DOJ approval before any changes are made to election rules — a dubious claim given that the DOJ is fully equipped to handle expedited claims in the final hours before Election Day.
But in statement last night from her office, Handel claims that it’s not her politicizing early voting — it’s the media, elected officials and activist groups:
Secretary Handel is extremely pleased with early voting turnout and how the overwhelming majority of Georgia’s county election offices prepared for and managed the early voting process. Two million Georgians voted early, nearly 90 percent in person with photo ID. This historic turnout will ease pressures on the state’s 3,000 precincts on Election Day. County election officials will now spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday making critical final preparations for Election Day, and the Secretary of State’s office will deploy election monitors and technicians to assist them.At the same time, Secretary Handel is disappointed that a handful of elected officials, political party organizations, activist groups and media outlets used this occasion to politicize the early voting process. Their failed attempts to find fault with the Secretary of State’s role in election oversight through grandstanding, patently false allegations and biased reporting revealed their desire to create confusion and chaos among voters to further their political agendas.
With just hours to go until Election Day, it looks like Handel has successfully thwarted extending early voting hours — how that will affect Election Day voting remains uncertain.