Attempting to interfere with the performance of election duties is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one yearвЂ™s imprisonment. These offenses carry serious consequences. An individual is culpable regardless of whether they succeeded in inducing fraud. Destroying ballots and falsifying voting records, Cox noted, both fall into that category. The second law targets вЂњcriminal solicitation to commit election fraud.вЂќ An individual is guilty of this offense when he вЂњsolicits, requests, commands, importunes, or otherwise attempts to causeвЂќ another person to commit an election-related offense. The first bars вЂњattempts to interfere withвЂќ an election officialвЂ™s вЂњperformance of any act or duty.вЂќ By allegedly asking Raffensperger to falsify the vote count, Graham plainly sought to interfere with the secretary of stateвЂ™s truthful certification of the election. Cathy Cox, the dean of Mercer UniversityвЂ™s School of Law who previously served as GeorgiaвЂ™s secretary of state, told me that at least two other state laws encompass the senatorвЂ™s alleged actions. That doesnвЂ™t mean Graham is off the hook. Raffensperger did not follow through instead, he blew the whistle. Republicans are not always so lenient toward those accused of election-related crimes. Another law explicitly criminalizes such conduct by elected officials, prohibiting the falsification of any document related to their public office. It is also a crime for anyone to falsify any records or documents used in connection with an election, or to place any false entries in such records. In Georgia, it is a crime for anyone, including election officials, to destroy a ballot. Had Raffensperger followed through with this request, he wouldвЂ™ve run afoul of several state laws. (That means the signature on the ballot envelope doesnвЂ™t match the signature on file.) Signature mismatch disproportionately affects racial minorities, who lean Democratic overall, and Georgia is required to let voters cure a mismatched signature under a federal court order.

He says Graham wanted him to toss out thousands of perfectly valid mail ballots, omitting them from the official count, because they were mailed from a county with unusually high rates of signature mismatch.

To understand why GrahamвЂ™s alleged conduct was criminal, we have to look at what, exactly, he asked Raffensperger to do. In a letter she sent to top-ranking state officials last year, she said she was looking into вЂњpotential violations of Georgia law prohibiting the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local government bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office and any involvement in violence or threats related to the electionвЂ™s administration.Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

ItвЂ™s not clear exactly what charges Willis could choose to pursue against Trump or anyone else. 4, 2021, and comments made during December 2020 Georgia legislative committee hearings on the election. She also has said the team is looking at a November 2020 phone call between Graham and Raffensperger, the abrupt resignation of the U.S. Willis has confirmed that her team is looking into a January 2021 phone call in which Trump pushed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to вЂњfindвЂќ the votes needed for him to win the state. These are the victims of the Highland Park parade shooting

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