Last night, I cited an analysis by Steve Cortes that concluded there were 95,000 “Biden only” ballots in Georgia and virtually no “Trump only ballots” in the state. Cortes cited these numbers as suggesting voter fraud. I cited them as a warning that in the crucial Senate runoff races, the “Biden only” ballots might become new votes for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
But Dan McLaughlin disputes Cortes’ claim that there were 95,000 “Biden only” ballots. He writes:
If you actually watch Cortes explain this, however, he is computing something completely different: the difference between the Joe Biden and Donald Trump votes and the votes for Georgia Senate campaigns. But he completely ignores the possibility that some voters submitted split-ticket ballots, i.e., they voted for Biden but also cast ballots for David Perdue or Kelly Loeffler for the Senate.
If you compare the total number of votes cast in the Georgia Senate race between Perdue and Jon Ossoff, you see that the 95,000 number is mathematically impossible. As of the current count, there were 4,991,753 votes cast in Georgia in the presidential election, and 4,945,454 votes cast in the Perdue-Ossoff race. That’s a difference of 46,299 votes, meaning that it is not possible that there were 95,000 ballots with only a presidential vote marked. (There have been 4,907,912 votes counted so far in the Georgia Special Senate election, which means that at least an additional 37,542 people voted in the Senate race that had a clear Republican and Democratic candidate, but stayed out of the one where there were multiple candidates from each party).
I find McLaughlin’s analysis persuasive. I’m relieved that there aren’t nearly 100,000 Biden voters in Georgia ready to become Ossoff and Warnock voters in January.
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