David Ralston talked about election integrity, his goals for the 2022 legislative session and the need to defeat Stacey Abrams in her bid for governor when he spoke to the Mountain Patriots Thursday, December 2.
Ralston, District 7 representative and Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, said, “The integrity of our elections is fundamental to our Republican form of government.”
He then gave the Patriots an overview of Senate Bill 202 (SB202), the state’s new election law passed last year aimed at correcting the inadequate election controls of the 2020 election.
For example, SB202 requires a valid photo ID for absentee ballots.
The reasoning behind the requirement, Ralston said, is because “absentee ballots carry a higher level for potential for fraud” than any other form of voting.
When Democrats challenged this provision, saying all voters do not have a drivers license, which is required for in-person voting, Ralston said the law created free voter ID cards to solve this problem.
Drop boxes, which first appeared in the 2020 election and were virtually unrestricted, now have several restrictions. They must be located within election offices and be available only during normal business hours.
Ralston said they can no longer be placed unattended on dark street corners.
SB202 also stops political groups from handing out food and water within 150 feet of a polling place.
Ralston said this enforces previous law that prohibited campaigning within 150 feet of a polling place.
It targeted groups that passed out water bottles with “vote for...” endorsements on the labels.
The law does not stop counties or cities from passing out food or water without political messages.
A provision of SB202 also gives the state the authority to step in and take over elections in counties with repeat election irregularities.
That provision has already led to the dismissal of the director of elections in Fulton County.
Ralston concluded, “SB202 is not perfect...but it does build a lot of integrity into our election system.”
Looking to the 2022 legislative session that begins January 10, Ralston said his goals include supporting law enforcement officers across the state and fixing the problem in Atlanta where, “the city is doing nothing.”
“That place is now dangerous,” he said of the state capital where city leaders want to defund and disarm the police.
He is supporting a bill to give the Georgia Bureau of Investigation original jurisdiction to investigate claims of election fraud.
Currently, the state’s top law enforcement agency can only conduct such investigations if requested by specific state or local officials.
Ralston also wants to expand mental health services and strengthen Georgia’s Second Amendment protections.
Looking forward to the 2022 gubernatorial election, he warned of the consequences of a Stacey Abrams’ victory.
“We will not be able to recognize the Georgia that we know and love” if the Democrat candidate wins the election, Ralston said.
The fundamental changes she would make would completely change the course of the conservative nature of the state.