By Jessica Savage| December 10, 2020 at 6:57 PM EST - Updated December 10 at 7:10 PM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The number of election complaints filed in the state of Georgia prompted the Secretary of State’s office to ask another agency for help.
We learned earlier this week the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will assist in election fraud investigations.
The state’s election complaint database shows the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has seen a surge in complaints surrounding the November general election.
As of this past Monday, it had received 144 complaints since around the time of early voting. And most of those cases are still open or pending an investigation.
To give you some perspective, the Secretary of State’s Office has received two-and-a-half times the number of complaints that it received during the 2016 general election. With 144 complaints in 2020 compared to 54 in 2016.
That’s comparing early voting dates through December.
So what kinds of complaints is the Secretary of State’s Office investigating right now?
Everything from accusations that a voter received the wrong ballot to deceased voters.
Here’s a look at the top three complaints: Absentee ballot fraud, illegal campaigning and the top complaint, improper processing of absentee ballots by election officials.
Most of the complaints poured in during November, around Election Day.
With many coming from the Atlanta metro area: Fulton County (26) followed by Cobb County (10) and DeKalb (10) . There are six complaints from Chatham County.
We’ve asked for copies of the complaints in Chatham County, so we can see more details. The report we received from the Secretary of State’s Office has very limited information.
Once we receive the complaints, we’ll report the findings.
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