Georgia officials defend voting system against barrage of conspiracies

More than 70 cardinal group person already voted successful nan 2024 election, and Gabriel Sterling, main operating serviceman for nan Georgia Secretary of State's office, knows what he'll opportunity to group who will inevitably situation nan results. 

"I'm sorry that your campaigner lost. But nan rules are nan rules. The rule is nan law. And nan count is nan count," Sterling said. 

As of Friday, more than half of registered voters successful Georgia had already voted, according to information from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office.

Sterling and Raffensperger were among nan Republicans pushing backmost against claims of fraud successful 2020, erstwhile Georgia — wherever President Biden won — was astatine nan halfway of a strategy to overthrow nan predetermination results. In a authorities wherever Republicans controlled each branch of government, Raffensperger stood up to erstwhile President Donald Trump and stood by nan state's results. 

• Why Georgia predetermination officials opportunity voters tin spot nan process successful 2024

"I activity for nan group of Georgia. I respond and I activity for nan voters of Georgia," Raffensperger told 60 Minutes successful an interview. "My occupation is to tally a fair, honest, meticulous election."

Election dishonesty chaos 

That fairness and honesty was met pinch threats of unit toward predetermination workers. Sterling, successful a news convention aft nan 2020 election, urged Trump and lawmakers to condemn nan threats. "Stop inspiring group to perpetrate imaginable acts of violence. Someone's going to get hurt. Someone's going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed," Sterling said.

Gabriel Sterling, main operating serviceman for nan Georgia Secretary of State's office 60 Minutes

But predetermination chaos continued, pinch immoderate predetermination deniers storming nan U.S. Capitol connected Jan. 6, 2021. 

Sterling hoped his connection would get done to everyone, but it hasn't. 

"There's immoderate you're ne'er going to person and you conscionable person to judge that you're ne'er going to person them," Sterling said. "But for nan immense mostly of Americans who person questions, fundamentally they think, 'Well, if there's this overmuch smoke, location must beryllium something. Nobody would dishonesty this overmuch astir it.' So I deliberation there's savable souls there, who basically, they want to understand."

Does fraud happen?

There is immoderate predetermination fraud, but it's rare, CBS News predetermination advisor David Becker said. Few group cognize elections for illustration Becker, who helped enforce voting authorities astatine nan Justice Department and who led nan creation of a data halfway now utilized by half of nan states successful nan U.S. that thief support elector records up to date.

"We're talking astir dozens of votes successful a large nationalist election. It is, for each intents and purposes, intolerable to bargain a large nationalist election. We are truthful decentralized pinch almost 10,000 different jurisdictions tally by Democratic and Republican predetermination officials," Becker said. "Our elector lists are arsenic meticulous arsenic they ever person been before, and they're checked regularly."

CBS News predetermination advisor David Becker 60 Minutes

In Georgia, Trump's lawyers brought shocking tales of fraud to nan legislature, but investigations by authorities police, nan FBI and Raffensperger's agency recovered nan allegations were false. 

"They said location were 66,000 underage voters. There were zero," Raffensperger said. "Then they said that location were 2,423 non-registered voters. There were zero."

What drives predetermination fraud conspiracy theories

There's ever been immoderate magnitude of skepticism astir predetermination results, but it reached caller heights successful 2020, erstwhile Trump ran against President Biden, Sterling said. 

In nan 2020 election, Trump mislaid Georgia by conscionable 11,779 votes. Two recounts confirmed his loss. Despite that, Trump said things were "so bad successful Georgia." 

"Nobody wants to spot nan benignant of fraud that this predetermination has travel to represent," Trump said connected Nov. 26, 2020.

According to Becker, claims of stolen elections are driven by 1 factor: whether your campaigner won. 

• Keeping ballots and canvass workers safe successful Georgia's 2024 election

"Sadly, tens of millions of Americans person been targeted for this disinformation. They've been preyed upon by losing candidates and overseas adversaries," Becker said. "And importantly, they person donated money. Because a batch of this is financial. There's a financial inducement for those who've dispersed nan lies, who person raised, let's look it, hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, disconnected nan dishonesty that our elections aren't to beryllium trusted."

Voters stay skeptical today, conscionable days distant from nan 2024 election. 

"We person to show them complete and complete again, 'Voter suppression's fake. Voter fraud is fake. It's utilized to raise money and get you angry,'" Sterling said.

Debunking predetermination fraud conspiracy theories

With false and misleading accusation circulating up of Election Day, Becker took connected immoderate of nan conspiracy theories astir predetermination fraud successful nan United States.

Conspiracy theory: Bogus votes are electronically inserted into a tabulation instrumentality - 

"They're not connected to nan internet. They are nether strict beingness concatenation of custody. It is really difficult to get entree to a beingness instrumentality and do thing to it. And moreover if location were immoderate effort to hack nan instrumentality or, astir apt much likely, person immoderate benignant of malfunction of nan machine, nan audits would drawback it," Becker said.

Conspiracy theory: Immigrants who person crossed nan separator illegally are voting by nan millions -

"That is 100% false," Becker said. "Every azygous elector has to springiness a driver's licence number aliases societal information number, which is matched against files, databases that are held to make judge nan elector is who they opportunity they are, and they're eligible to vote. And we besides cognize that states who person gone looking for non-citizens voters person recovered shockingly fewer moreover imaginable non-citizen registrants."

Becker pointed to Ohio.

"Ohio conscionable precocious announced that successful a play of clip of complete a decade it had recovered six imaginable cases of non-citizens voting," he said.

The cardinal to assurance successful nan 2024 election 

Paper ballots are cardinal to giving voters assurance successful nan 2024 election, Becker said. Ninety 5 percent of Americans will ballot connected insubstantial ballots, which are verifiable and auditable. 

"And past we audit those ballots, which intends we do manus counts of nan ballots to comparison them to nan instrumentality counts, to make judge nan machine's sewage nan correct result," he said. 

Becker explained why voters should spot group moving nan election. 

"I tin show you, I've been moving pinch predetermination officials for complete a 4th of a century," he said. "And erstwhile you talk to these predetermination officials retired there, Republicans and Democrats, they don't do this because it makes them rich | and famous."

They do it because it's a calling, Becker said. 

George Harrison, Beverly Woityra and Paul Petruska, trained canvass workers successful Cobb County, Georgia, are among those who answered that calling. In their experience, if there's a problem, it's astir ever because of a correction nan elector made. 

Scott Pelley speaks pinch trained canvass workers successful Cobb County, Georgia 60 Minutes

They'll perceive to predetermination doubters vent and reply their questions. Petruska shared a connection for voters. 

"Stay disconnected nan internet. Listen to nan people, travel down present and talk to us," Petruska said. "Fact cheque pinch much than Facebook and TikTok."

He besides urged them to extremity listening to rumors astir elections. 

People request to person religion successful nan ballot, Sterling said, adding that predetermination workers person done a batch of activity to guarantee voters tin confidently judge predetermination results.  

"Every authorities successful this state now has poked and prodded and looked astatine their processes. And we cognize that while we each do it somewhat differently, everybody assures that there's 1 personification and 1 vote. Everybody assures that there's a azygous ballot cast," Sterling said. "Nearly each authorities successful nan Union now has audits aft nan fact. Every authorities successful nan Union tests their instrumentality beforehand successful a nationalist way."

What should voters expect connected Election Day

There will beryllium breakdowns, mistakes and disinformation this year, but nary of that should beryllium confused pinch election-altering fraud, Becker said. 

Come Election Day, voters shouldn't expect to get results quickly successful galore races. 

"Definitely don't expect to cognize who controls nan United States House of Representatives. There are a batch of very adjacent races, moreover successful places for illustration California, that will return days aliases possibly moreover weeks to resolve. The Senate we mightiness cognize a small spot sooner, but unclear," Becker said. "We astir apt will person a beautiful bully thought who won nan presidency possibly astir Thursday aliases Friday."

That's because nan title is fundamentally tied, including successful Georgia, wherever Sterling is hoping America tin strengthen its adjacent adjacent predetermination without coming apart. 

"I cognize that 2024 will beryllium nan safest and astir unafraid predetermination successful history," Sterling said. "It will beryllium nan astir scrutinized predetermination successful history. And whoever nan victor is, beryllium it Donald Trump aliases Kamala Harris, we will cognize that they are nan correct victor astatine nan extremity of nan day."

In:
• Brad Raffensperger
• Georgia
• Election