Trump has claimed that voting machines in certain Republican-majority districts in the US state of Georgia have been malfunctioning during Tuesday's runoff election for its two US Senate seats.
Appearing to cite US Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA), Trump claimed on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon that voting machines owned by Dominion Voting Systems had not been working "for over an hour" in certain Republican strongholds of the state.
"Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them," Trump added.
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. Ballots are being left in lock boxes, hopefully they count them. Thank you Congressman @RickAllen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021
Trump has pointed to the machines as being behind his November 3, 2020, loss to US President-elect Joe Biden, claiming Dominion changed thousands of votes for Trump into votes for US President-elect Joe Biden in several key swing states, including Georgia. However, all of Trump's lawsuits alleging voter fraud have been thrown out by the courts, and after lengthy ballot recounts and audits, the results have all been certified by election authorities.
Earlier on Tuesday, Dominion CEO John Poulos said the company was preparing a defamation lawsuit against Sidney Powell, a former attorney for Trump's presidential campaign, for "spreading false information" about the company and the veracity of its voting machines "with malicious intent."
It's unclear what Trump's source is for his Tuesday claims. However, right-wing news site The Gateway Pundit reported that several voters had called in to the radio show of former Trump campaign board member John Fredericks alleging an inability to vote thanks to malfunctioning voting machines. According to the outlet, the voters were given paper ballots instead.
The Tuesday election is unusual in that both of Georgia's seats in the US Senate are up for election at the same time. One race, between Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, is the result of a failure by either candidate to secure a majority of votes in the November 3 election. However, the second vote is between Democratic candidate Reverend Raphael Warnock and sitting Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed last year to fill the seat after former Sen. Johnny Isakson retired due to health reasons.
With the US Senate almost evenly split between the Republicans and Democrats, Tuesday's vote could decide which party controls Congress' upper house. The Democrats retained their control over the US House of Representatives in November, and with Biden in the White House, a Democratic victory in Georgia could give liberals control over both the legislature and the executive for the first time since 2011.
