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Bradford Jay Raffensperger (born May 18, 1955) is an American businessman,
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
, and politician serving as the
secretary of state of Georgia The secretary of state of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public record Public records are documents or pieces of information that are ...
since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the
Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...
, representing District 50. Raffensperger rose to national prominence in the aftermath of the
2020 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala Harris defeated the incumbent Republican president Donald Trump and vi ...
, in which incumbent president
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
lost. Trump refused to accept defeat, made claims of fraud, and launched an unsuccessful protracted campaign to overturn the election results. As part of this campaign, Trump made a recorded phone call on January 2, 2021, in which he attempted to persuade Raffensperger to change the election results in Georgia in Trump's favor. Raffensperger refused to do so, and said the outgoing president's claims were based on falsehoods. Raffensperger was reelected in the
2022 Georgia Secretary of State election The 2022 Georgia Secretary of State election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Georgia Secretary of State, Secretary of State of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republican Secretary of State Br ...
, after defeating Trump-backed
Jody Hice Jody Brownlow Hice (born April 22, 1960) is an American politician, radio show host, and political activist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district from 2015 to 2023. ...
in the Republican primary and Democratic challenger
Bee Nguyen Bee Nguyen (born July 18, 1981) is an American nonprofit executive and politician who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 89th District from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected during a ...
in the general election.


Early life and career

Raffensperger earned a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in civil engineering from the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
and a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
from
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...
. Raffensperger is the
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Tendon Systems, LLC, a contracting and engineering firm that operates in
Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
, and
Forsyth County, Georgia Forsyth County ( or ) is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Georgia, Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Suburban and exurban in character, Forsyth County lies within the Metro Atlanta, Atlanta ...
. He amassed a net worth of $26.5 million from his work in the private sector.


Political career


Johns Creek City Council

Raffensperger is a lifelong Republican. He served on the Post 2 seat of the Johns Creek City Council from 2012 to 2014. He replaced Dan McCabe on the City Council. He resigned in November 2014 to run for the special election to represent the 50th district in the Georgia House, and was succeeded by Chris Coughlin.


Georgia House of Representatives

Raffensperger subsequently won his bid to the Georgia House in 2015, succeeding Lynne Riley. In the state House, Raffensperger sponsored legislation to bar county officials from personally profiting from
tax lien A tax lien is a lien which is imposed upon a property by law in order to secure the payment of taxes. A tax lien may be imposed for the purpose of collecting delinquent taxes which are owed on real property or personal property, or it may be i ...
s. Previously, the Fulton County tax commissioner personally collected fees from tax liens and sales of tax liens to private collection companies, allowing him to amass $200,000 over a four-year period. The legislation ended this self-enrichment practice. Raffensperger also sponsored a measure to amend the
Georgia state constitution The Constitution of the State of Georgia is the governing document of the U.S. State of Georgia. The constitution outlines the three branches of government in Georgia. The legislative branch is embodied in the bicameral General Assembly. The exec ...
to allow the re-creation of a county that previously existed but had later merged with another county; the measure would allow northern Fulton County to split off to form
Milton County Milton County was a county of the U.S. state of Georgia from to . It was created on December 18, 1857, from parts of northeastern Cobb, southeastern Cherokee, and southwestern Forsyth counties. The county was named for John Milton, Secretary ...
.


Georgia Secretary of State


2018 election

Raffensperger ran for the
Secretary of State of Georgia The secretary of state of the U.S. state of Georgia is an elected official with a wide variety of responsibilities, including supervising elections and maintaining public record Public records are documents or pieces of information that are ...
in the 2018 election. The Secretary of State in Georgia oversees elections and is chairman of the state election board. The Secretary of State also oversees business registration and
occupational licensing Occupational licensing, also called licensure, is a form of government regulation requiring a license to pursue a particular profession or vocation for compensation. It is related to occupational closure. Some claim higher public support for t ...
. In the Republican Party primary, Raffensperger faced former
Alpharetta Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population had been 57,551. ...
mayor David Belle Isle, state representative
Buzz Brockway Buzz Brockway (born July 22, 1966) is an American politician. He previously served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 102nd District from 2013 until January 14, 2019. Brockway represented the 101st district from 2011 to ...
, and state representative Josh McKoon. In the primary, Raffensperger came in first place and Belle Isle came in second place; because no candidate obtained a majority, the race for the Republican nomination went to a primary runoff, which Raffensperger won. During his campaign, Raffensperger "said he would reduce government bureaucracy, support
voter ID laws A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...
and push for verifiable paper ballots when Georgia replaces its electronic voting machines." In the November 6, 2018, general election, Raffensperger finished with the most votes, leading
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
John Barrow by less than one percent. He defeated Barrow in a runoff election on December 4, 2018.


Disputes regarding purging of voter rolls and Latino voter access

In 2019, Raffensperger fought 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Stacey Abrams Stacey Yvonne Abrams (; born December 9, 1973) is an American politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017, serving as minority leader from 2011 to 2017. A member ...
, the former minority leader of the
Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...
, as she contested his action to remove 300,000 names from the voter registration rolls, and he won the case. In 2021, he removed over 100,000 additional names from the Georgia rolls, depending in part on data received from ERIC, the national Electronic Registration Information Center. The Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) and other civil rights groups sued Raffensperger's Office and the
Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the ...
elections board in federal court, arguing that the county's mailing of mail-in ballot applications printed only in English should also have been sent in the
Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
to registered voters in Gwinnett County because of its large Spanish-speaking population. The suit was dismissed in October 2020 by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II, who ruled that the plaintiffs lacked
standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the ...
and the English-only mailings did not violate the
Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movem ...
. The number of Latinos eligible to vote in Georgia has expanded and turnout percentage has increased since 2016, exceeding countrywide participation rates of that ethnicity said Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO's executive director. Latinos are 5 percent of Georgia's electorate, with about 377,000 Latinos eligible to vote, and about 250,000 registered.


2020 elections


=May and June primary elections

= In 2020, the Georgia presidential primaries, originally set for March 24, were moved to May 19 (the date for non-presidential primaries in Georgia), due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Later, Raffensperger further postponed the Georgia primaries to June 9 due to the coronavirus crisis. During the 2020 Georgia elections, Raffensperger sought to prevent Georgia polling places from printing paper backups of voter registration and absentee voting information in case polling places would struggle to use voter check-in tablets, called Poll Pads, which had been problematic in Georgia's primary elections in June 2020. The tablets had caused long lines at polling places. Voting rights groups had requested paper backups to prevent a risk of chaos on election day in case the tablets failed. The voting rights groups sued Raffensperger in federal court; they obtained an order from a
district judge District Judge may refer to: * A United States federal judge, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate * A judge in a state court (United States), where the state is divided into judicial districts * * A judge in the district courts ...
ordering Georgia election officials to prepare such paper backups, but this order was blocked by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal appellate court over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * Southern District o ...
. To protect voting rights during the pandemic, Raffensperger directed the mailing of absentee (mail-in) ballot applications to all of Georgia's 6.9 million active registered voters for the state's June 2020 primary. After David Ralston, the Republican speaker of the
state House State House or statehouse may refer to: Buildings *Aso Villa or State House, the official residence of the President of Nigeria *Government House, Dominica or The State House, the official residence of the President of Dominica * State House, Bar ...
, said that expanded use of mail-in voting would "be extremely devastating to Republicans and conservatives in Georgia," Republicans on a Georgia state House committee advanced legislation to block election officials from sending mail-in ballot request forms to voters ahead of elections. Raffensperger pushed back on the proposal, saying: "By a wide margin, voters on both sides of the political spectrum agree that sending absentee applications to all active voters was the safest and best thing our office could do to protect our voters at the peak of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. Some seem to be saying that our office should have ignored the wave of absentee voting that was clearly coming." After encountering opposition, the proposed ban died in the
Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...
.


=November general elections

= Raffensperger did not send out mail-in ballot applications to every active registered voter in Georgia for the November 2020 general election, citing the cost of a mass mailing. Rather, Raffensperger created an online portal for Georgia voters to request absentee ballots. He encouraged voters to take advantage of in-person
early voting Early voting, also called advance polling or pre-poll voting, is a convenience voting process by which voters in a public election can vote before a scheduled Election Day (politics), election day. Early voting can take place remotely, such as v ...
and mail-in voting. The November 2020 general election in Georgia went smoothly, avoiding the problems that had plagued the primary election in June; Raffensperger credited the successful process to the record numbers of voters who cast ballots before Election Day, either by mail or during Georgia's three-week period of in-person early voting. Democratic presidential candidate
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
became
president-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...
, defeating incumbent
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, and Democrats made gains in Georgia, with Biden winning the state, the first time since 1992 that a Democratic presidential nominee had won Georgia.


=Trump's efforts to change the election results

= After the election, Raffensperger's fellow Republicans, Georgia's U.S. senators,
David Perdue David Alfred Perdue Jr. (born December 10, 1949) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman serving as the List of ambassadors of the United States to China, United States ambassador to China since 2025. A member of the Republican Pa ...
and
Kelly Loeffler Kelly Lynn Loeffler ( ; born November 27, 1970) is an American businesswoman and politician who has served as the 28th administrator of the Small Business Administration since February 20, 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a ...
, issued a joint statement accusing Raffensperger of unspecified "failures" and calling for him to resign. Perdue and Loeffler offered no evidence in support of their claims, which they made after pressure from Trump, who had promoted
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
about the election and falsely claimed it was rigged. State elections officials and other Republican leaders noted that there was no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with the election. Both Perdue and Loeffler were up for re-election but failed to achieve a majority of the vote, triggering a
runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
in Georgia against their Democratic opponents, which took place on January 5, 2021, and determined party control of the Senate. Raffensperger rejected the calls for his resignation, saying, "As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that." Raffensperger added, "If I was Senator Perdue, I'd be irritated I was in a runoff. And both Senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our President." Under pressure from fellow Republicans, Raffensperger ordered a statewide hand recount/audit of all five million votes in the Georgia presidential race, in which Biden led Trump by approximately 14,000 votes. Critics, including the voting rights group Coalition for Good Governance, described Raffensperger's decision to go forward with the hand recount being motivated by the political pressure he had received from Trump, and said it was not contemplated by Georgia law. Raffensperger denied this, although he did say that fellow Republicans were pressuring him to find ways to exclude legal ballots. Raffensperger said that South Carolina senator
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...
pressured him in a call to throw out postal ballots favoring Biden. Though Graham denied the allegations, a separate Republican election official who was also present in the call,
Gabriel Sterling Robert Gabriel Sterling (born November 14, 1970) is an American politician and elections official from the state of Georgia. He is the chief operating officer (COO) in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State. He previously served on the cit ...
, confirmed Raffensperger's statement. Doug Collins, a Republican congressman from Georgia who lost his race and oversaw Trump's efforts in Georgia, falsely claimed fraud in the Georgia election, prompting Raffensperger, typically known for his mild manner, to call Collins a "liar" and "charlatan" for his rhetoric. The hand recount reaffirmed Biden's victory, with Biden receiving 2.47 million votes and Trump receiving 2.46 million votes, a margin of 12,670 votes (0.25%). On November 20, Raffensperger certified the final vote totals, and Georgia Governor
Brian Kemp Brian Porter Kemp (born November 2, 1963) is an American politician serving as the 83rd governor of Georgia since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Kemp served as the state's 27th Georgia Secretary of Sta ...
issued the formal certification of the state's slate of electors. Trump continued to promote false claims about the electoral process after certification; some Trump supporters harassed or threatened Raffensperger, his wife, and Raffensperger aide Sterling, the state voting system implementation manager, including
death threats A death threat is a threat, often made Anonymity, anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to Psychological manipulation, manipulat ...
. Sterling publicly called on Trump to condemn the acts and "Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence." In March 2021, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a bill, which was signed into law by Kemp, that removed the position of state election board chair from the Georgia Secretary of State's duties. The law handed control of the state election board chair to the state legislature.


Trump–Raffensperger phone call

A recording of an hour-long phone call between President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, Raffensperger, and several other state and federal officials on January 2, 2021, was obtained by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' and released the following day. On the call, Trump pressured Raffensperger to change the election results for the state of Georgia to make him the winner; Trump told Raffensperger, "I just want to find 11,780 votes." Raffensperger repeatedly rebuffed Trump's attempts to pressure him. After the taped call was published, Democratic congressional leaders asked the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
to investigate the call and probe whether Trump had "engaged in solicitation of, or conspiracy to commit, a number of election crimes." Journalist
Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original ne ...
, who in 1972 broke the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...
with
Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the honorific title of associate editor though the Post no longer employs ...
leading to the resignation of President
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, called the Trump–Raffensperger scandal "far worse than Watergate" and said that in any other presidency it would result in
impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...
, conviction, and bipartisan demands for the president's resignation. In an interview, Raffensperger said that Trump "did most of the talking" on the call and noted that Trump's voter fraud allegations were "just plain wrong". In a letter to Congress on January 6, 2021, Raffensperger gave a point-by-point refutation of Trump's false election claims. While some House Republicans tried to defend Trump's Georgia call, Democrats began drafting a censure resolution. On January 6, 2021, days after the call, a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol while the Congress was counting the electoral votes to formalize Biden's victory. After the attack, the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
impeached Trump for
incitement of insurrection Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establis ...
. The
article of impeachment An article of impeachment is a documented statement which specifies the charges to be tried in an impeachment trial as a basis for removing an officeholder. Articles of impeachment are an aspect of impeachment processes of many governments that uti ...
adopted by the House notes the Raffensperger call, stating: "President Trump's conduct on January 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on January 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to 'find' enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so." Raffensperger testified in
public hearings In law, a hearing is the formal examination of a case (civil or criminal) before a judge. It is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency or a legislative committee. Description A hearing ...
before the
United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (commonly referred to as the January 6th Committee) was a Select or special committee (United States Congress), select committee of the ...
on June 21, 2022.


2022 election

Raffensperger was reelected to a second term in 2022. Trump had endorsed a primary challenger
Jody Hice Jody Brownlow Hice (born April 22, 1960) is an American politician, radio show host, and political activist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district from 2015 to 2023. ...
, a supporter of his election fraud claims. Facing punitive opposition by the former president, death threats, harassment, and having to confront misinformation and lies asserted by an opponent, Raffensperger explained his motivation to run for reelection: "If the good walk off the field and leave the field to the bad, then the bad wins." Raffensperger fended off his primary challengers, ultimately winning the 50% of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. He defeated the Democratic Party nominee, Democratic state representative
Bee Nguyen Bee Nguyen (born July 18, 1981) is an American nonprofit executive and politician who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 89th District from 2017 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected during a ...
, in the November general election. A week after the Senate runoff election he called for the Assembly to end the runoff system in Georgia, one of only two states with such a system.


2024 election

In early 2023, Georgia's state legislature denied a $25 million request by Raffensperger to implement the 2022 security update for
Dominion Voting Systems Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a North American company that produces and sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in Canada and the United States. The company's headquarters are in Toro ...
machines before the 2024 elections, though the QR codes will be eliminated by 2026. According to ''POLITICO'' in June of 2023, Raffensperger insisted that the cybersecurity flaws identified in voting software were not significant and that no update was needed since the hackers would need physical access to the machines, over the objection of some cybersecurity experts who insist that a voter-verifiable print-out of the ballot and updating to the latest software are important steps that should have been taken for security reasons and to bolster confidence in the final tally. On July 29, 2024, Raffensberger added another way to cancel a voter's registration through an online portal, which groups like
Fair Fight Action Fair Fight Action is an American political organization founded in 2018 by Stacey Abrams to address voter suppression in Georgia and across the United States. Origins Stacey Abrams had long been involved with the Democratic Party, serving as ...
worried would be abused. On August 5, cybersecurity researcher Jason Parker disclosed a vulnerability in Georgia’s voter cancellation portal that allowed users to bypass the requirement for a driver’s license number, enabling the submission of voter registration cancellations with minimal, publicly available information. The discovery drew attention to weaknesses in the system and the importance of continued efforts to secure election infrastructure. After an administrative law judge disqualified Claudia De la Cruz and
Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
from the ballot due to their electors not registering in their own name, Raffensperger overruled the judge on August 29, 2024 and put them on the ballot. It is the first time since 1946 with more than four candidates on the ballot. On September 12, 2024, a judge disqualified both West and De la Cruz from running for president in Georgia. On September 25, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously confirmed the ruling keeping votes for De la Cruz and West from counting even though Raffensperger intended to keep both on the ballot saying there was not enough time to reprint the ballots. Republicans had been working to get West and De la Cruz on the ballot believing they would take votes away from
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
, while Democrats had been working to keep them off citing how their presence benefits Trump.


Electoral history


Personal life

Raffensperger and his wife, Tricia, have three children and two grandchildren. Raffensperger is a member of the North Point Community Church. Raffensperger has four siblings.
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
has falsely claimed that Raffensperger has a brother, Ron, who "works for China", but Raffensperger's only brother is not named Ron and does not work for or in China. There is a Huawei executive named Ron Raffensperger, but they are not related.


References


External links


Campaign website
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Raffensperger, Brad 1955 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American engineers American chief executives of manufacturing companies American civil engineers American people of German descent Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Engineers from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) city council members Georgia State University alumni Living people People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election People from Johns Creek, Georgia Place of birth missing (living people) Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Secretaries of state of Georgia (U.S. state) University of Western Ontario alumni 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly