Raffensperger shoots down Trump’s voting machines claims

President continues to undermine election integrity as officials debunk his false claims

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and state election officials rejected Donald Trump’s false claim that a voting machine in a Republican-leaning Georgia county had compromised ballots, as voting was underway in a critical US senate runoff amid the president’s ongoing attempts to undermine American voters and elections.

“Reports are coming out of the 12th Congressional District of Georgia that Dominion Machines are not working in certain Republican Strongholds for over an hour,” the president announced on Twitter on Tuesday, 

His claims followed a report from Georgia state Representative Rick Allen, whose district encompassed the area where 

“Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them,” the pesident said.

The secretary of state said only that “a small number” of keys used to start voting machines had not been programmed properly, but the issue was cleared hours earlier.

Read more: Follow live updates on the Georgia Senate runoff election

NBC News reporter Charlie Gile shared an email he received from Mr Raffensperger that said that voting never paused and has been running smoothly throughout the day.

“In Columbia County, a small number of the keys that start up the paper-ballot scanners were programmed incorrectly,” Mr Raffensberger said.

"Additionally, a few poll worker cards were programmed incorrectly, meaning some poll workers were unable to start the touch screen voting machines used for paper-ballot voting," Mr Raffensperger wrote. "The correct keys and voter cards were delivered to the relevant precincts with a law enforcement escort. Issues were resolved by 10am." 

Read more: Can Georgia flip the Senate?

Gabriel Sterling, a Republican elections official who has repeatedly defended the state's voting procedures and election integrity against the president’s attacks, pointed out that the president's data was old and that the problems had been corrected hours ago.

He wrote: “And this issue in Columbia Co. was resolved hours ago and our office informed the public about it in real time. The votes of everyone will be protected and counted. Sorry you received old intel Mr. President.”

The elections officials, both Republicans, and the state’s Republican governor Brian Kemp  have been at the centre of ongoing attacks from the president and his allies demanding the state overturn its election results after his loss to Joe Biden.

Mr Trump is captured on a recently hour-long recording of a phone call between the president and Mr Raffensberger urging him to “find” votes to win and suggesting criminal consequences if he does not. He also spouted election conspiracies parroted by QAnon-affiliated websites and right-wing media.