Vice President Mike Pence sent mixed messages about voting procedures during a visit to Georgia ahead of the state's all-important Senate elections next month.
Speaking at a "Defend the Majority" rally in Augusta, Pence began by celebrating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's legal bid to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential race in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"So far, just in the last few days, 18 states have joined the Lone Star State to defend the integrity of our elections before the highest court in the land," Pence said. "President Donald Trump deserves his day in court. The Supreme Court. All I can say is, God bless Texas."
Paxton, who has been criticized for wasting taxpayer money on the longshot lawsuit, accused the battleground states of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to enact unlawful last-minute changes to election procedures. He specifically attacked the legality of mail-in ballots, which he alleged were placed in drop boxes with "little or no chain of custody" and weren't subject to strong signature verification requirements.
Despite the attacks on absentee voting from Republican officials and President Donald Trump, Pence encouraged Georgians to get their absentee ballots as soon as possible and to participate in in-person early voting starting Monday.
"I want you to be confident about your vote," Pence said. "Our great GOP state chair David Shafer and the senators will tell you, we're on them this time. We're watching. We're going to secure the polls. We're going to secure the drop boxes. So get an absentee ballot in today and vote. Don't wait. Get it done."
Georgia has become the center of the political universe as the state's two Senate runoffs will determine which party controls the upper chamber in the next Congress. Incumbent Senate Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will face Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff on January 5.
Republicans will control at least 50 seats in the next Senate, based on election results, compared to Democrats' 46 seats. Two independent senators caucus with the Democratic Party, bringing their total vote power to 48. If Ossoff and Warnock win, party control of the chamber would be split 50-50. Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be responsible for casting any tie-breaking votes.
Democrats are riding a blue wave in Georgia after the state flipped for the first time in decades to support President-elect Joe Biden. Some Republicans, meanwhile, have expressed concern that President Donald Trump's baseless attacks on the integrity of the 2020 could negatively impact Perdue and Loeffler.
During a rally in Georgia last weekend, Trump continued to air out his grievances with state leadership over their handling of the contest. Georgia has counted all the votes in the presidential race three times and has certified Biden's win twice.
"This election was rigged, and we can't let it happen to two of the greatest, most respected people in Washington," he said, referring to Loeffler and Perdue. "We can't let it happen again...Your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing."
Pence said Thursday that Georgians need to reelect Perdue and Loeffler to uphold election integrity in the U.S.
"We're going to keep fighting until every legal vote is counted. We're going to keep fighting until every illegal vote is thrown out. We'll never stop fighting to make America great again. That's why we need Perdue and Loeffler back in a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate," the vice president said.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Alexandra Hutzler is currently a staff writer on Newsweek's politics team. Prior to joining Newsweek in summer 2018, she was ... Read more
