No, Georgia’s secretary of state didn’t say he’s going to investigate himself over voter fraud

The headline of a Jan. 5 blog post that’s spreading widely on social media suggests that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is putting himself in the crosshairs of an investigation. 

"SoS Brad Raffensperger to Investigate Himself Over Voter Fraud…10 to 1 He Will Find Himself Innocent," the headline says. 

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The blog post goes on to say that Raffensperger said he was opening an investigation into ballot harvesting accusations.

"Since the 2020 election, Raffensperger has spent all of his time covering up the voter fraud that occurred," the post says. "He is basically investigating himself." 

Raffensperger, a Republican, has regularly pushed back on false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, incurring the wrath of former President Donald Trump and his supporters. On Jan. 6, he tweeted: "One year ago, rioters stormed the Capitol driven by baseless stolen election claims and conspiracy theories."

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The claim in the blog headline that he’s investigating himself is not accurate. 

The post references a Jan. 4 report from Just the News, a site founded by former Hill reporter John Solomon. Solomon reported that Raffensperger had confirmed that "Georgia authorities have launched an investigation into an allegation of systematic ballot harvesting during the state’s 2020 general election and subsequent U.S. Senate runoff and may soon issue subpoenas to secure the evidence." 

It’s illegal in Georgia for third-party activists to pick up and deliver ballots on behalf of voters, Solomon wrote, and in 2019, Raffensperger "led a successful effort" to strengthen the law. 

The National Desk, a Sinclair Broadcast Group outlet, and the Washington Post also reported on the Just the News report. The Post noted that Raffensperger told the National Desk that his office had received the ballot harvesting tip from a group called True the Vote, but that the organization "does not allege the ballots delivered by couriers were fraudulent." 

"Those are still lawful ballots," Raffensperger said, "but they’ve just been handled fraudulently with, obviously, the ballot harvesting."

What he didn’t say? That he’s going to investigate himself over voter fraud. 

We rate that claim False.