Judy: Recent primary elections
in Pennsylvania and north
Carolina and elsewhere have
shown that former president
Donald Trump still exerts a
strong influence on Republican
voters.
Tomorrow his influence will once
again be tested.
This time at the polls in
Georgia, state president Biden
narrowly won in 2020.
We just returned from Georgia
and has this report.
>> Early voting has been going.
On for weeks in Georgia
and while inflation and high gas
prices are top of mind for many,
another issue has also been
thrust centerstage.
>> Let me be very clear.
The election 2020 was stolen.
>> In the governor race, Brian
Kemp is trying to fend off a
challenge from former senator
David perdue whose main attack
has been that Kemp should've
reversed the last election
because of unproven claims of
fraud.
>> The only one lying here is
you.
And that is a fact.
>> Brian Kemp let us down.
>> Former president trump
endorsed Purdue hoping to unseat
the governor would not echo his
lies about the election.
>> I follow the constitution.
>> There is a similar fight to
unseat secretary of state Brad
raffensperger who famously
refused president trump's
request to quote "Find him
11,000 votes."
>> Fellas, I need 11,000 votes.
Give me a break.
>> He's facing another primary
from another trump endorsed
elections in eircom a Jodi
Heise.
>> I believe the election in
Georgia wreaked with fraudulent
activity.
>> The question is is this big
lie the widely discredited
notion that somehow the 2020
election was stolen from
president trump, is that theory
going to resonate with voters
two years later here in Georgia?
We went to woodstock, Georgia in
cherokee county where trump won
70% of the vote to ask
Republicans that question.
>> I don't have a lot of trust
in the elections themselves.
>> This real estate agent is
convinced the last election was
stolen.
>> I feel like they are looking
at us like, you are so stupid,
you won't know we committed
these crimes.
There is so much evidence but
nothing has been done.
>> Do you think the last
election was stolen?
>> I think in every election
ever there has been some hoodie
doo.
>> Hoodie doo is a technical
term.
>> It is in woodstock.
I think now with the scrutiny
that it is under, I have more
faith in this election than any
in a while.
>> Former major league baseball
scout team Osborne says all this
conspiratorial talk ofa rigged
election is a distraction.
>> I would rather focus on the
economy and Ukraine now and
things like that.
>> There is a fight for the
future of the Republican party
in Georgia.
>> Donald Trump is still a very
popular figure within Georgia
Republicans but what that
popularity means is going to be
on the ballot.
>> Stephen faller covers state
politics for Georgia public
broadcasting.
A poll from earlier this year
showed three out of four
Republicans still believe there
was widespread fraud in 2020.
>> For there to be a conspiracy
to overturn the election or to
rig the election it would have
to take an incredible number of
Republicans leading against
their own party and this is the
most scrutinized election system
and elections in the entire
country.
And still, for thousands and
thousands and thousands of
people, it is not enough.
>> The associated press analyzed
every case of voter fraud in the
six battleground states,
including Georgia, that former
president trump contested.
It found fewer than 475 cases.
Quote "A number that would've
made no difference in the 2020
presidential election."
>> We have been there on Friday
night.
How are we going to get through
this?
>> After the 2020 election,
governor Kemp signed a much
criticized election law to roll
back changes that were made
during the pandemic, things like
expanded ballot drop boxes and
easier absentee mail-in voting.
But he rejects the idea that the
2020 election was stolen or that
he could have or should have
changed the outcome.
>> Does it frustrate you have to
keep litigating the last
election?
>> No, it does not frustrate me
being governor of Georgia.
This is the greatest state to
live, work and raise our
families.
People have their individual
views, that is part of the
primary process.
I have been involved in those
fights before.
>> Kemp's defense of the 2020
election has not heard his
campaign.
He is currently well ahead in
the polls and many of his
supporters welcome his move away
from the conspiracy.
>> I'm going to be very honest
with you.
I don't think the election was
stolen.
>> Holly Gardner is a retired
school principal.
She doesn't quite understand the
grip trump has on so many in her
party.
>> That is like cult.
A cult I do not want to be part
of.
I don't understand it.
I really don't.
Can't imagine someone having
that much influence on me as an
American voter.
>> The head of college
Republicans event about
university is a Kemp supporter.
>> This is the man are parties
to support and I think it is
childish the former president
was to derail his campaign based
on he does not support some lie
and stood up for election
integrity.
>> But those falls allegations
are not slowing down.
>> This is organized crime.
>> Do you have video evidence?
>> 4 million minutes of
surveillance video.
>> Anew documenter is claiming
to have video and cell phone
data proving so-called mules
committed voter fraud in 2020.
We talked with some voters like
Mike outside a screening of the
film in holly springs.
>> We've been looking for the
smoking gun.
For a year now.
And when this movie came out, a
week or two back, my wife and I
watched it, and I said game
over.
>> But multiple news
organizations including the
associated press and NPR have to
punch the film, is saying it is
full of dubious claims and that
its supposed evidence is full
of gaping holes.
The Georgia bureau of
investigation after reviewing
material sent by the film maker
said a probe was note
justified.
>> Brian Kemp allowed radicals
to steal the election.
>> Former president Purdue
continues with his unfounded
claims of fraud.
>> Senator, you have repeatedly
said that the 2020 election was
rigged and stolen.
Why do you still believe that?
>> Because of the hard evidence.
Why do you guys not look at the
hard evidence?
>> At a meet and greet incoming
team, Georgia, we asked of
constantly spreading these
baseless claims might make his
own voters afraid to vote.
>> Have to 350,000 Republicans
who voted in this primary so far
in the first two weeks did not
vote in 18.
You make your own conjecture
about what that is.
These people are upset and they
will not go away.
>> But for the people who
actually run elections in
Georgia, combating this
avalanche of lies and
accusations has become a
full-time job.
>> There are certain folks --
of how this really works even
if I showed them step-by-step.
That is when it gets really
frustrating.
You fill this out.
>> Joseph Kirk is an election
supervisor of Bartow county, an
area that former president trump
won by 50 points.
He tries to educate voters as
much as possible about how
elections work and how secure
the process is.
>> Then during your initial --
your initials right there.
>> Some of his poll workers
being trained here have been
threatened and harassed.
He's had to beef up security to
protect them.
>> Should never happen.
That is not a political issue,
that is just a decency issue.
These are your neighbors, your
friends, you community, people
volunteering their time to to
serve their country, and
facilitate this process.
>> Thank you, Georgia.
>> This week's primary in
Georgia will be another measure