Burt Jones, Kelly Loeffler unload on GA secretary of state Raffensperger

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - If you’re among the few who believe former President Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment - “Thou shalt not speak ill of fellow Republicans” - is still in force, look no further than Georgia’s GOP.

On Monday, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, widely believed to be a candidate for Georgia’s hugely important 2026 governor’s race, launched a broadside attack ad against fellow Republican - and Secretary of State - Brad Raffensperger.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of having a Secretary of State who has shown up to work 42 days this year and hid behind his staff to do his job while showboating on liberal TV shows.

Since 2021, Brad Raffensperger has spent 70% of the time away from his job—missing… pic.twitter.com/Rezd72nlTM
— Burt Jones (@burtjonesforga) November 13, 2023

Jones, according to CNN, is believed to be an unindicted co-conspirator in Donald Trump’s historic indictment in Fulton County. The former president is alleged to have led an organized crime-like conspiracy to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

In late October, the first-term lieutenant governor made national headlines when he advocated more money being spent on school safety, including paying for teachers and other non-officers to take firearms training, and paying teachers who hold a firearms training certificate an annual stipend.

“The secretary is fully focused on a successful 2024 election,” said spokesperson Jordan Fuchs. “While desperate politicians and election deniers work to discredit the outcome of next year’s election, we will continue to focus on preparing our counties for a smooth, secure and successful election.”

Jones’ attack came only two weeks after former U.S. senator Kelly Loeffler called on Raffensperger to “get back to work for the voters of Georgia.”

Loeffler, who is chair of Greater Georgia, made her comments after a report by the Washington Examiner, alleging Raffensperger has been tardy in implementing security updates to the state’s voting machines, vulnerabilities she said his office has known about since 2021.

Last week, Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office, said Georgia’s elections are safe and secure.

The administration is also defending its decision to not upgrade software for the state’s voting system for the upcoming election. Election officials said the state is piloting the new version of the Dominion software in five counties.

“We wanted to look at doing it quickly potentially but it’s very difficult given the fact that we have to run elections in 122 counties right now,” Sterling said. “It takes tens of thousands of man hours to do this, and also, it’s never been tested.”

Some state lawmakers are pushing to have the Dominion software upgrade installed in time for next year’s elections.

“We should be able to have some counties utilizing the new Dominion software for the presidential preference primary, for the primaries following in May, for any runoffs, I think we can incrementally move the needle forward,” said state Sen. Max Burns (R – Sylvania).

The Secretary of State’s office said safeguards are already being put in place ahead of the 2024 election.

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