What Georgia election officials want voters to know about 2020 claims

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Tuesday, Americans will see a mobility much captious than who wins nan White House. They'll determine whether they person religion successful nan ballot. Whether Jan. 6, 2021 was nan extremity of chaos aliases nan beginning. Election fraud lies are aimed astatine destroying confidence. You're astir to perceive why they are lies. Gabriel Sterling is simply a messenger of predetermination truth. He's nan Republican main operating serviceman for nan Georgia caput of authorities who runs elections there. Georgia was nan halfway of nan strategy to overthrow nan 2020 election. Sterling says these are nan stakes this Tuesday. 

Gabriel Sterling: People person to person religion successful nan outcomes, and for 200-some-odd years we had to person nan acceptance of nan personification who came successful 2nd aliases mislaid to say, "You cognize what? I lost. I will travel backmost again and conflict successful 2 years." The logic we person ballots is to debar bullets. And if you say, "Ballots don't matter anymore," there's only 1 logical guidance to go. And that's not patient successful immoderate democracy.

Scott Pelley: Why should Americans person assurance successful this election?

Gabriel Sterling: 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. 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. We person tons of people, processes and policies successful spot successful each 50 states and nan territory to guarantee that nan result of nan predetermination is correct.

Scott Pelley: And location are millions of group who are skeptical astir what you conscionable said.

Gabriel Sterling: There's ever immoderate level of skepticism. It's ever location but it's reached a different level successful nan 2020 and 2024 elections.

In nan 2020 election, President Trump mislaid Georgia by a slender 11,779 votes. Two recounts confirmed his loss, but he said this. 

Donald Trump (on Nov. 26, 2020): Nobody wants to spot nan benignant of fraud that this predetermination has really travel to represent, we are looking astatine things that are looking astatine things that are truthful bad successful Georgia.

Four days earlier nan ballot was to beryllium certified connected January 6th, Trump called Sterling's leader Georgia's Republican caput of state, Brad Raffensperger. 

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 60 Minutes

Donald Trump (on call): So, look, each I want to do is this. I conscionable want to find 11,780 votes, which is 1 much than we have.

In a authorities wherever Republicans controlled each branch of government, Raffensperger stood up to Trump connected nan call.

Brad Raffensperger (on call): We person to guidelines by our numbers. We judge our numbers are right. 

Trump's lawyers brought shocking tales of fraud to nan legislature. But investigations by nan authorities police, FBI and Raffensperger's agency recovered nary was true. 

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

Scott Pelley: But you're a Republican. He was your president.

Brad Raffensperger: I activity for nan group of Georgia. I respond and I activity for nan voters of Georgia. My occupation is to tally a fair, honest, meticulous election.

But fairness and honesty were met pinch threats of violence.

Gabriel Sterling (during property conference): It has each gone excessively far.

Death threats to his predetermination workers snapped Republican Gabe Sterling's patience. 

Gabriel Sterling (during property conference): It has to stop. Mr. President, you person not condemned these actions aliases this language. Senators, you person not condemned this connection aliases these actions. This has to stop. We request you to measurement up and if you are going to return a position of leadership, show some. Stop inspiring group to perpetrate imaginable acts of violence. Someone's gonna hurt. Someone's going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed.

His informing was 5 weeks earlier January 6th.

More than 1,000 rioters person been convicted—just portion of nan predetermination dishonesty chaos. Trump revenge 64 lawsuits and mislaid 63. Lawyer Rudy Giuliani was sued to bankruptcy aft falsely accusing Georgia predetermination workers of fraud. Fox News paid $787 cardinal to settee a suit that said Fox knew it was lying astir nan election. And Trump was indicted successful Georgia. He's pleaded not blameworthy to predetermination interference but 4 co-defendants did plead blameworthy to related charges. Sterling hoped his connection would get done to everyone but it hasn't. 

  • Georgia predetermination officials take sides voting strategy against barrage of mendacious claims, conspiracy theories 

Gabriel Sterling: And there's immoderate you're ne'er gonna person and you conscionable person to judge that you're ne'er gonna person them. 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 fundamentally they want to understand. We person to show 'em complete and complete again, "Voter suppression's fake. Voter fraud is fake. It's utilized to raise money and get you angry."

Trump riled supporters pinch predetermination denial from nan very first clip he was ever connected a Republican ballot. He mislaid nan Iowa caucus successful 2016 and wrote… "Ted Cruz didn't triumph Iowa, he stole it." Later, erstwhile Trump won nan nationalist electoral ballot but not nan celebrated vote, he posted "I won nan celebrated ballot if you deduct nan millions of group who voted illegally." Later, a fraud committee he appointed, disbanded erstwhile it couldn't find nan evidence.  

Scott Pelley: People are gonna opportunity that nan predetermination was stolen. It's inevitable.

Gabriel Sterling: Yes, it is.

Scott Pelley: And to them you opportunity what?

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

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

David Becker: Georgia successful galore ways is simply a model. They do a batch of things exceptionally well.

Few group cognize elections for illustration David Becker. At nan Justice Department he helped enforce voting rights. Later, he led nan creation of a elector registration information halfway that is utilized coming by half nan states. Becker is simply a CBS News predetermination consultant.

David Becker: One of nan things everyone should understand is nan claims astir predetermination theft and fraud are not driven by nan existent policies that beryllium successful nan states. They're driven by 1 factor, and 1 facet only. And that's whether your campaigner won. Sadly tens of millions of Americans person been targeted for this disinformation. They've been preyed upon by losing candidates and overseas adversaries. 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.

Scott Pelley: Let's look astatine immoderate of nan conspiracy theories of fraud. We'll return them 1 astatine a time. "Bogus votes are electronically inserted into tabulation machines."

David Becker: 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 kinda malfunction of nan machine, nan audits would drawback it. 

Scott Pelley: Another of nan conspiracy theories is that forbidden immigrants are voting by nan millions.

David Becker: That is simply a 100% false. 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. Ohio conscionable precocious announced that successful a play of clip of complete a decade it had recovered six imaginable cases of non-citizens voting.

Scott Pelley: But fraud does happen, doesn't it?

David Becker: It happens very rarely. We cognize really overmuch fraud successful this state happens. We cognize it's not zero, but it's very, very adjacent to zero. 

Scott Pelley: We're not talking astir millions of votes aliases hundreds of thousands of votes?

David Becker: No, 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. Our elector lists are arsenic meticulous arsenic they ever person been before, and they're checked regularly. 

David Becker told america nan cardinal to assurance successful this election, is nan insubstantial ballot.  

David Becker: Ninety 5 percent positive of each Americans are gonna ballot connected insubstantial ballots, which are verifiable and auditable to corroborate nan count was accurate. 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.

CBS News predetermination advisor David Becker CBS News predetermination advisor David Becker 60 Minutes

Scott Pelley: Why should we spot nan group who are moving nan election?

David Becker: I tin show you I've been workin' pinch predetermination officials for complete a 4th of a century. 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 this because it's a calling.

… a calling heard by George Harrison, Beverly Woityra and Paul Petruska, trained canvass workers adjacent Atlanta. They told us, erstwhile there's a problem it's astir ever a correction nan elector made. And there's a saying astatine authorities headquarters, "if you don't cognize really thing works, everything's a conspiracy."

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

George Harrison: Sometimes they conscionable want to vent. Sometimes they conscionable wanna person personification perceive to their mobility and say, "Hey, I person this question. What astir this? I effort to person each of my voters, by nan clip they leave, beryllium successful a amended temper than erstwhile they came in.

Election doubters are invited to volunteer. Like 2 skeptical women who took nan four-hour training people recently. 

Beverly Woityra: And they conscionable wanted to spot for themselves, and they were some convinced by nan clip they near training that everything was connected nan up and up.

Paul Petruska: I would opportunity to nan voters who are watching this, enactment disconnected nan internet. Listen to nan people, travel down present and talk to us. Fact cheque pinch much than Facebook and TikTok. What I would want group to return distant from this full entire conversation, is that gossip, rumors kills.

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

Gossip isn't nan only menace. Many Georgia canvass workers person a 911 panic fastener connected a lanyard. Offices are equipped pinch nan antidote, Narcan. Last year, Fentanyl was mailed successful an onslaught connected predetermination workers conscionable doing their jobs. 

David Becker: They want to guarantee that each eligible voters, and only eligible voters tin ballot successful a strategy that is meticulous and breeds confidence. 

But assurance remains nether attack. This post past week claimed forbidden Haitian immigrants are voting pinch Georgia driver's licenses. The FBI traced it to Russia. Election advisor David Becker told us, there'll beryllium much disinformation and a fewer breakdowns, and mistakes, nary of which should beryllium confused pinch fraud.

Scott Pelley: What should we expect successful position of results connected predetermination night?

David Becker: So connected Election Night don't expect to cognize nan winner. 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. 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 Gabriel Sterling, nan Republican caput of state's main operating officer, hopes America tin strengthen its adjacent adjacent predetermination without coming apart. 

Scott Pelley: What is it for illustration to beryllium nan main operating firewall against lies and myths successful nan election?

Gabriel Sterling: I've ne'er heard it put to maine rather that way. Wild horses couldn't thrust maine distant from this occupation correct now. I mean, I cognize our strategy is awesome successful nan state. I cognize nan elections crossed America are safe and secure. I cognize that 2024 will beryllium nan safest and astir unafraid predetermination successful history. 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.

Produced by Henry Schuster and Sarah Turcotte. Broadcast associate, Michelle Karim. Edited by Peter M. Berman.

    In:
  • Brad Raffensperger
  • Georgia
  • Election

Scott Pelley

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Scott Pelley, 1 of nan astir knowledgeable and awarded journalists today, has been reporting stories for 60 Minutes since 2004. The 2024-25 play is his 21st connected nan broadcast. Scott has won half of each awesome awards earned by 60 Minutes during his tenure astatine nan venerable CBS newsmagazine.

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