Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that he would investigate “all credible allegations of voting irregularities and misconduct” after receiving a sworn affidavit from a Pennsylvania postal worker alleging officials devised a plan to backdate mail ballots.
The senator’s remarks came less than two hours after The Associated Press and other news outlets officially projected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris the winners in the race for White House.
President Trump has since refused to concede, repeating his claims without evidence that there have been several cases of voter fraud as part of a Democratic effort to steal the election from him.
In a press release, Graham stated that he had received a sworn affidavit from the Trump campaign provided by Richard Hopkins, a postal worker from Erie, Pa.
In the affidavit, Hopkins alleges that Erie Postmaster Robert Weisenbach told workers he was “back-dating the postmarks on the ballots to make it appear as though the ballots had been collected on November 3, 2020 despite them in fact being collected on November 4 and possibly later.”
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Keystone State could count mail-in ballots that are received as late as Friday of this week as long as they were postmarked on Nov. 3, Election Day.
In response, Graham wrote in the release that “it is imperative that all credible allegations of voting irregularities and misconduct be investigated to ensure the integrity of the 2020 elections.”
“The presidential election remains close in multiple states, and as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, all credible allegations of voting irregularities and misconduct will be taken seriously,” he continued. “I will not allow credible allegations of voting irregularities or misconduct to be swept under the rug.”
The top Republican lawmaker added that he would be “calling on the Department of Justice to investigate these claims.”
“I’ll also be in contact with the Postmaster General, requesting he to look into these allegations, ones that may follow, and help secure the testimony of Mr. Hopkins,” Graham continued.
“Every American should want our election processes to work accurately, and given the recency of such a large volume of mail-in voting, that will require oversight,” Graham added. “Election outcomes are not determined by media outlets but certified, accurate vote counts.”
This remark from Graham echoed Trump’s statement following Saturday’s election results in which he claimed that news networks were helping Biden “falsely” pose as the winner.
NBC, CNN, ABC and The Associated Press all called the race for Biden shortly before 11:30 a.m. Saturday after a grueling vote count that had the country waiting for a result for days after Tuesday’s vote. Fox News called the race for Biden a short while later after declaring him the winner in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
The projections came seconds after Biden’s lead in Pennsylvania grew to more than 30,000 votes after Philadelphia reported about 3,000 ballots. Biden won 85 percent of that count, and more ballots from the city are expected to be counted later today.
The AP shortly after declared that Biden had won Nevada with a lead of 20,000 votes at midday Saturday.
The Trump campaign announced on Thursday it was filing a lawsuit in Nevada to stop ballot counting, claiming there is proof that nonresidents voted in the election.