Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET
Georgia's secretary of state said Tuesday that some fellow Republicans have tried to pressure him into disqualifying legal ballots that may not have favored President Trump.
Brad Raffensperger, who was earlier endorsed by Trump, said in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered that he had been contacted by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's office in an effort to convince him to discard some legal absentee ballots.
"Sen. Graham implied for us to go ahead and audit the envelopes — the signature on the envelopes — and then throw out the ballots from counties that had the highest frequency of error rates on signatures," Raffensperger said.
"I went ahead and I explained our laws. It's pretty clear what Sen. Graham, President Trump and attorney Lin Wood — they're all on the same page, and they don't understand the laws of Georgia."
Raffensperger said he's been resisting those kinds of calls from critics both at home and around the country even as the Peach State continues a statewide hand recount.
President-elect Joe Biden narrowly clinched a win in Georgia, a state that had not voted blue in a presidential race in more than two decades. Trump and Republicans have made a number of unfounded allegations about purported impropriety in the election — which Raffensperger has rejected.
The secretary of state said he has tried to help outsiders understand Georgia law and leveled some harsher responses toward those inside the state he says should know better, including Rep. Doug Collins, a Trump ally who ran an unsuccessful Senate race this year.
"Failed candidate Doug Collins is a liar— but what's new?" Raffensperger wrote in a Facebook post.
The secretary of state also said in another interview on Tuesday that Trump may have himself to blame for his loss in Georgia following his months of mostly unfounded criticism of mail ballots.
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In new intv with me, @GaSecofState says 24,000 GOPs who voted absentee in primary did not vote in General - says Donald Trump cost himself the election by sowing distrust in absentee: "he would have won by 10 thousand votes he actually suppressed, depressed his own voting base"
— Justin Gray (@JustinGrayWSB) November 17, 2020