'Easier to cheat': Georgia GOP leaders urged to sue officials plotting interference

Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias on Wednesday urged Georgia's Republican leaders — the ones who adamantly refused Donald Trump's request for them to overturn the 2020 election — to take further action to prevent the same ploy in November.

After the Georgia State Election Board on Tuesday passed a new rule that could jeopardize the process of free and fair elections, Elias is urging voters — as well as Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — to stay vigilant.

"Donald Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 by 3 million votes," Elias reminded MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace during an interview. "In 2020 he lost the popular vote by 7 million votes. He and the Republicans are running out of runway. They are running out of ways to count on the electoral college and a bunch of other structural advantages that they have to counteract the fact that more Americans want to vote for Kamala Harris than want to vote for him.

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Elias continued, "What they are left with is making it harder to vote, and easier to cheat. And the way they tried to cheat in 2020 — when I litigated and beat Donald Trump and his allies 60 times in court — is through what ballots get counted and what ballots don't get counted. In 2022, they tried it again."

"[Trump] knows he's going to lose the popular vote," the Democratic lawyer emphasized. "He knows he's probably going to lose the election if it's free and fair, but he doesn't care...He is willing to do, and he's built a campaign and a party that is willing to literally do anything. If they are willing to storm the Capitol to prevent certification on January 6th, what do you think they would do in a county in Georgia?"

Wallace then asked, "What is the protection against that, Mark?"

Elias replied, "I think it's a few things. It's the great work that you and others in the media do that call attention to this. It's one of the reasons why I started Democracy Docket. It's important for people to know this is going on because for some of these elected officials or appointed officials, they have to live in these communities. They have to look at their neighbors. And it is harder for them to do that if what they are doing is public rather than in the darkness of night."

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The Democracy Docket founder added, "The second thing is that there's a big obligation here for the legal establishment. Lawyers, like me have a big obligation here. Every lawyer who swears an oath to the law and the constitution has an obligation to fight against this kind of activity. And then finally, we talk a lot about the fact that Republicans run Georgia, but where's Brian Kemp? How about they bring a lawsuit? How about [Georgia Republican Governor] Brian Kemp brings a lawsuit? The Secretary of State? Where are they?"

Watch the video below or at this link.