Trump–Raffensperger phone call facts for kids
.jpg)
On January 2, 2021, then-U.S. President Donald Trump made a phone call to Brad Raffensperger. Mr. Raffensperger is the Secretary of State for the state of Georgia. During the hour-long call, President Trump asked him to change the vote totals from the 2020 presidential election.
In November 2020, Joe Biden won the state of Georgia. President Trump had not accepted the results of the presidential election. News about Trump's call with Raffensperger was first shared by The Washington Post and other news groups the day after it happened.
During the call, President Trump told Raffensperger, "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state." President Trump had lost Georgia by 11,779 votes. So, finding 11,780 more votes would have made him win by one vote. Many people felt that President Trump's phone call was not right.
Contents
Understanding Elections
How U.S. Presidents Are Chosen
What is the Electoral College?
In the United States, the person who wins the most votes from people across the country does not always become president. Instead, the president is chosen through a system called the electoral college. In this system, a group of people called electors vote for president.
Each state gets a certain number of electors. This number depends on how many people live in that state. There are 538 electors in total for the whole country. To become president, a person needs to get 270 or more votes from these electors.
When a candidate wins the most votes in a state, all of that state's electoral votes usually go to that person.
How States Manage Elections
Elections in the U.S. are managed by each state. This means there were 50 different elections happening at the same time in 2020. Each state has its own rules about who can vote and how votes are counted.
The Secretary of State in each state is usually in charge of running the elections. They make sure everything is fair and follows the rules.
Georgia's Role in the Election
Georgia has 16 electoral votes. This means it provides 16 electors to the Electoral College. In 2020, Joe Biden received the most votes in Georgia. Because of this, all 16 of Georgia's electoral votes went to him.
Many people were surprised by this result. In 2016, Donald Trump had won the most votes in Georgia. Usually, candidates from the Republican Party have won the most votes in Georgia.
Brad Raffensperger was chosen as Georgia's Secretary of State in 2018. Both he and Donald Trump are members of the Republican Party.
Reactions to Georgia's Vote Count
President Trump was not happy that Georgia's electoral votes went to Joe Biden. He said that there was cheating in the Georgia elections. He also claimed that votes were changed to help Biden win. He said that government officials in Georgia allowed problems that made him lose.
President Trump asked Georgia officials to count the votes again. They did, but Joe Biden still had the most votes.
The Phone Call
On January 2, 2021, President Trump called Brad Raffensperger. During the call, Trump said he had won Georgia by "hundreds of thousands of votes." He claimed the election results were wrong. These statements were not true based on the official vote counts.
Then, President Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" 11,780 votes. He wanted these votes added to the results so that he could be declared the winner of Georgia.
What Happened Next
Laws at both the federal (national) and state levels say that trying to change election results is against the law. Trying to make someone else change election results is also illegal. This means that President Trump's actions during the call might have broken the law.
