Georgia Secretary of State Partially Bends The Knee, Acknowledges ‘Ballots Were Counted Unlawfully And In Secret’

After Thursday’s bombshell security footage that showed vote counting observers being sent home, only for vote counters to pull black suitcases full of votes from underneath a table and begin processing them in the early hours in the morning, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office conceded that “ballots were counted unlawfully and in secret.”

David Shafer, Chair of the Georgia Republican Party, posted the security camera video from Thursday’s hearing on his Twitter account and wrote, “Not sure why Twitter has labeled this ‘disputed’. It is video from the surveillance camera at State Farm Arena where Fulton County election workers scanned ballots late into the night after falsely announcing they were shutting down.”

From today’s hearing at the State Capitol. Not sure why Twitter has labeled this “disputed.” It is video from the surveillance camera at State Farm Arena where Fulton County election workers scanned ballots late into the night after falsely announcing they were shutting down. https://t.co/IhyMnf7BXo

— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) December 3, 2020

After an NPR and GBP News journalist, Stephen Fowler, falsely reported that the Georgia Secretary of State and Georgia Republican Party engaged in “slight goalpost-moving comments,” Shafer corrected that  the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, led by the thus-far unhelpful Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have amended their stance, and it has always been the Georgia Republican Party’s stance that ballots were counted illegally.

“More false reporting from Stephen Fowler of @GPBNews,” wrote Shafer. “Although originally reporting that state monitors were present,” the Georgia Secretary of State “now acknowledges that this was untrue, as video shows.”

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“Our position is unchanged,” he said of the Georgia Republican Party. “Ballots were counted unlawfully and in secret.”

Schafer added, “Even had state monitors been present, the law still requires that ballot counting be open to partisan monitors and the public. But state monitors were not, present,” which the Georgia Secretary of State “now acknowledges and the video shows.”

Even had state monitors been present, the law still requires that ballot counting be open to partisan monitors and the public. But state monitors were not present, as the @GaSecofState now acknowledges and the video shows.

— David Shafer (@DavidShafer) December 3, 2020

Thus far, both Republican U.S. Senate candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue, have called for Raffensperger to resign from his position as Secretary of State immediately. However, Loeffler and Purdue have stopped short of calling for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, to call a special session of the legislature so state legislators can address issues of election irregularity and determine whether the state’s 13 Electoral College votes should be assigned to President Donald Trump or to Joe Biden.

READ MORE: Georgia Begins Second Recount Trump Campaign Pushes Raffensperger For Signature Verification

Raffensperger has also failed failed to call for signature verification of mail-in ballots during Georgia’s second recount, in a move many Republicans, including President Trump, say has so far made the recount a meaningless exercise.

While Shafer says the Secretary of State’s office is now in agreement on the issue of votes being counted illegally, National File was unable to locate a public comment made by Raffensperger to this effect.