Raffensperger Calls on Legislature to Take Immediate Action and Stop Foreign Interference in Campaigns and Elections

January 24th, 2024

Atlanta – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calls on the General Assembly to take immediate action and ban foreign funding in campaigns and elections, and to require lobbyists and political consultants to register with the state regarding their work with foreign entities.

“With open borders, the number one issue facing our Nation is foreign interference in our campaigns and elections,” said Raffensperger. “That is why I am calling on the General Assembly to immediately pass legislation banning foreign funding in elections and campaigns, and to require political consultants and lobbyists who are agents of foreign entities to register and disclose their work to the state.”

Any legislation should prohibit foreign sources of funding from being used to influence elections, including campaigns for public office or any ballot measure being put before voters in Georgia. Additional requirements would mandate state registration of American citizens who lobby or consult on behalf of foreign governments, agencies, political parties, or organizations.

“Foreign actors shouldn’t be allowed to use dark money or American citizens as willing cut-outs to avoid disclosure of their goals and intentions in influencing the American political system,” said Raffensperger. “We need transparency from state lobbyists and political consultants who are also being paid by a foreign entity."

Recent surveys have shown a rising level of distrust in the political process -even as a majority of voters in Georgia believe their elections are conducted fairly and honestly.

“Most people trust the mechanics of the voting and counting processes because we’ve been transparent about them and worked very hard to build public trust in those processes,” said Raffensperger. “We need to extend that same trust to the process of campaign finance and make sure that if there is any foreign interference in elections, voters are aware of it.”

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Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 17 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system. Most recently, Georgia ranked #1 for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a top ranking for Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.