After indulging in a stream of baseless voter fraud allegations, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) candidly expressed his concern that attempts to get new voters involved in the Georgia runoff will “affect and change the outcome.”
“Most importantly, they’re mailing out a solicitation — they’re mailing everybody out a solicitation to vote by mail,” Paul intoned on Fox Business Network. “This is not a state law, this is something created out of whole cloth by the Secretary of State.”
“I’m very, very concerned that if you solicit votes from typically non-voters, that you will affect and change the outcome,” he continued. “So I’m very worried Democrats will control all three branches of the government and really truly transform America, but not for the better.”
“Wow, that is extraordinary,” marveled host Maria Bartiromo. “If there is not policing in place in Georgia, I don’t know what to say.”
Rand Paul rails on how Georgia was supposedly stolen — “but probably most importantly” absentee ballot applications being sent out for the Senate runoffs.
“I’m very, very concerned that if you solicit votes from typically non-voters, that you will affect and change the outcome.” pic.twitter.com/J1TPaN02Us
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) December 17, 2020
Paul’s horror at the idea of increased civic engagement isn’t the first time in recent days that Republicans have baldly opposed expanded accessibility to the vote out of fear that it would help Democrats win.
“Why is Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger working so hard to add drop boxes and take other steps to make it harder for Republicans to win,” Newt Gingrich tweeted last week. “Is he really that intimidated by Stacey Abrams?”
Republicans have filed three separate lawsuits in an attempt to curtail absentee voting in Georgia, targeting drop boxes and signature matching processes specifically. One of those was dismissed by a federal judge on Thursday.
In-person early voting in Georgia has been underway since Monday, when a new state turnout record was set.
The enthusiasm so far reflects the competitiveness of the races that will decide Senate control. Sabato’s Crystal Ball from the University of Virginia rates both races as tossups, and FiveThirtyEight’s polling amalgamation has them both within a point.
