Secretary Raffensperger Reaffirms Stand against Political Intimidation, Calls on General Assembly to Pass Language of HB 790

Atlanta- In the wake of recent incidents across the country involving swatting and bomb threats, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger condemned all acts of political intimidation, and called on the General Assembly to take up the original version of legislation he proposed in 2016.

Wednesday and Thursday, at least twenty-three government offices received threats, culminating in a shocking incident of swatting against a senior staff member of the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. Raffensperger stressed that such actions have no place in a civilized society and go against the fundamental principles of American democracy.

“Cowardice never wins,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “It is deeply troubling to see a rise in swatting and other physical threats. We expect heightened tensions as we head into a major presidential election. We expect American citizens to engage in the democratic process- not resort to cowardly acts of intimidation. We’re committed to upholding our democratic principles and fighting for an environment in which citizens can freely and safely participate.”

As a member of the Georgia State House in 2016, then-Representative Raffensperger authored HB 790 which increased the penalty for transmitting a false public alarm to include prison time of 1 to 10 years. Secretary Raffensperger calls on all elected officials and community leaders to denounce any form of political violence or intimidation, and to create stricter protections using the language he proposed in 2016. Having legislation such as this as existing Georgia law would strongly deter future acts of cowardice.

The Secretary of State’s office is working closely with law enforcement to investigate the recent threats and hold accountable those responsible.

“The integrity of our elections is non-negotiable,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “We’re unwavering in protecting the values that underpin our democracy.”

The Secretary reaffirms his commitment to protecting the integrity of Georgia’s elections and upholding the public’s right to free and fair elections – free from any form of intimidation.

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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.