By — Kenichi Serino Kenichi Serino Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/who-is-brad-raffensperger-and-why-is-he-important-to-the-jan-6-hearings Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Who is Brad Raffensperger and why is he important to the Jan. 6 hearings? Politics Updated on Jun 20, 2022 3:48 PM EDT — Published on Jun 17, 2022 5:56 PM EDT Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened his testimony before the Jan. 6 Committee on June 21 by saying he believed the Georgia election went “remarkably smooth,” while the aftermath was anything but. READ MORE: Who are the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings? As the top official responsible for elections in Georgia, Raffensperger was responsible for managing the 2020 election in the state, which Biden won by a thin margin. In the months following the election, Raffensperger would come under pressure from Trump to change the outcome of the election. With Trump losing by a narrow margin, he asked for a recount in Georgia, which he also lost. He then began making baseless allegations of voter fraud. Raffensperger said his office did “nearly 300” investigations into voter fraud but did not find evidence of substantial ballot tampering. “They said there was over 66,000 underage voters. We found there is zero…They said there were 2,000 non registered voters. There were zero. They said there were over 2,056 felons, we identified 74 or less,” Raffensperger said of his efforts to look into baseless allegations made by Trump and his allies. “Every single allegation we checked. We ran down the rabbit trail to make sure our numbers were accurate.” Raffensperger also testified about how as part of the pressure campaign following the election, Trump called him to “find” 11,780 votes to swing the election in his favor. “What I knew is we did not have any votes to find. We investigated. There were no votes to find. That was an accurate count that had been certified,” Raffensperger said. His wife’s cell phone was also doxed and both of them got threats and pressure from strangers. His son’s widow’s home was broken into. When asked why he didn’t quit, Raffensperger said he “had to be faithful to the constitution.” Trump continued the pressure. For more on the key players in the Jan. 6 committee hearings, click here. By — Kenichi Serino Kenichi Serino
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened his testimony before the Jan. 6 Committee on June 21 by saying he believed the Georgia election went “remarkably smooth,” while the aftermath was anything but. READ MORE: Who are the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings? As the top official responsible for elections in Georgia, Raffensperger was responsible for managing the 2020 election in the state, which Biden won by a thin margin. In the months following the election, Raffensperger would come under pressure from Trump to change the outcome of the election. With Trump losing by a narrow margin, he asked for a recount in Georgia, which he also lost. He then began making baseless allegations of voter fraud. Raffensperger said his office did “nearly 300” investigations into voter fraud but did not find evidence of substantial ballot tampering. “They said there was over 66,000 underage voters. We found there is zero…They said there were 2,000 non registered voters. There were zero. They said there were over 2,056 felons, we identified 74 or less,” Raffensperger said of his efforts to look into baseless allegations made by Trump and his allies. “Every single allegation we checked. We ran down the rabbit trail to make sure our numbers were accurate.” Raffensperger also testified about how as part of the pressure campaign following the election, Trump called him to “find” 11,780 votes to swing the election in his favor. “What I knew is we did not have any votes to find. We investigated. There were no votes to find. That was an accurate count that had been certified,” Raffensperger said. His wife’s cell phone was also doxed and both of them got threats and pressure from strangers. His son’s widow’s home was broken into. When asked why he didn’t quit, Raffensperger said he “had to be faithful to the constitution.” Trump continued the pressure. For more on the key players in the Jan. 6 committee hearings, click here.