Ga. Sec. of State Chides Loeffler, Perdue for Requesting Voter Info They Already Have

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is pushing back after Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler demanded he release an updated list of registered voters for the upcoming double runoff election.

Raffensperger responded Tuesday that the two candidates already have the information and called it "embarrassing" that they asked him for it.

"Though I've told the Republican Party to stop focusing on me and instead direct their energies to winning the Senate runoffs, clearly they haven't listened," the secretary of state said in a statement.

He continued, "As embarrassing as it is for Sens. Perdue and Loeffler not to know that the data they want is already publicly available from the Secretary of State, it's even worse that they're not aware their own campaigns already have the data they're looking for. Early voting has already started but it's not too late for them to call their offices and get their campaigns in order."

Loeffler and Perdue made the request on Monday as in-person early voting kicked off for the January 5 contests, when the two incumbents will face Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. In a joint statement, the Republicans alleged Raffensperger "failed" to release the list of new voters.

"This lack of transparency needs to be rectified immediately, or the integrity of our elections will remain threatened," Loeffler and Perdue said. "Georgians demand transparency, accountability, and accuracy in our elections process—and the Secretary of State is failing to provide it in a timely manner."

But Raffensperger said in his statement that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) "requested and received copies of the newly registered Georgia voters every day and the NRSC confirmed that it shared that public data with the Perdue and Loeffler senate campaigns."

Newsweek reached out to both campaigns for comment on Raffensperger's remarks but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Voter files are updated daily and are available for $250, Raffensperger said. He noted that the secretary of state's office does not release a "final list" of registered voters because counties continue to add people who validly registered by the December 7 deadline.

All eyes are on Georgia as the two Senate runoffs will determine which party has majority control of the upper chamber in the next Congress. If Perdue and Loeffler are both ousted, there will be a 50-50 split in the Senate. In the event of a tie, Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would then be the deciding vote.

The high stakes of the runoffs appear to be driving early turnout. Data from the secretary of state's office showed 168,093 people cast in-person absentee ballots for the Senate contests—a big jump from the roughly 128,000 Georgians who participated in the first day of in-person early voting for the November presidential election.

As of Tuesday, more than 482,000 Georgians have already cast their ballots for the January 5 races.