Voter fraud
Voter fraudiStock

US President Donald Trump’s campaign on Wednesday published a news release alleging that ballots were cast on behalf of at least four dead people in the state of Georgia.

“The American people deserve a free, fair, and fully transparent election in which every legal ballot is counted and every illegal ballot is not counted. Having confidence in our elections means knowing that votes are legally cast and that voters themselves are legally eligible to cast a ballot,” it said in a statement.

“Americans cannot have confidence in election results unless elected officials, law enforcement authorities, and fair-minded journalists take the issue of voter fraud seriously and investigate potential instances thoroughly. The Trump campaign will continue to bring these allegations to light, and the media and election authorities should vigorously examine them,” the statement added.

It then cited several examples in Georgia, including voter records showing someone used the identity of Mrs. Deborah Jean Christiansen of Roswell, Georgia to vote in the last week’s election, even though Christiansen passed away in May 2019.

“Further, someone registered Christiansen to vote on October 5, the day of the deadline to register, more than a year after she passed away. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an obituary announcing Christiansen’s death at the time of her passing,” the statement said.

Another example, it added, is James Blalock of Covington, Georgia, whose identity was used to cast a ballot in last week’s election, even though Blalock died in 2006. Blalock’s death notice ran in the Journal-Constitution shortly after he passed away that year.

Linda Kesler of Nicholson, Georgia died in 2003, but someone cast a ballot under her identity in last week’s election, according to the Trump campaign. Nicholson’s death notice ran in the Journal-Constitution when she passed away.

Finally, the statement cited Edward Skwiot of Trenton, Georgia, who is shown as having cast a ballot last week, even though he died in 2015. The Chattanooga Times Free Press ran a death notice in April of that year.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that there will be a full audit of all ballots cast in the state in last week's presidential election.

All votes will be recounted by hand, Raffensperger stated.

Former Vice President Joe Biden currently leads Trump by 14,111 votes in Georgia, out of 7.6 million registered voters in the state.

Raffensperger called on the public to come forward with any evidence they may have of voter fraud.

Later on Wednesday, Raffensperger said there was no sign yet of widespread fraud in Georgia’s vote count.

In an interview with CNN, he said he has ordered a hand recount of all the votes because of the closeness of the vote count, but he believed votes had so far been counted accurately.