RightCount Georgia Chair Eric Johnson: False Election Claims, Cherry-Picked Intelligence Lack Merit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 16, 2026

ATLANTA, GA: Following tonight's presidential address, former President Pro Tempore of the Georgia Senate and RightCount Georgia Chair Eric Johnson issued the following statement:

"RightCount remains unyielding in its dedication to a simple truth: American elections are run by the states, secured by the Constitution, and verified by the rule of law. As we saw in 2016, the far-fetched notion that a foreign adversary subverted our decentralized electoral system is at odds with reality.

"Any attempt to validate false election claims using cherry-picked 'intelligence', or testimony from American adversaries, are without merit. Our system is secure because it belongs to the people and the states, not foreign autocrats or centralized federal power."

Background

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, together with the U.S. Intelligence Community, have all concluded that no votes were changed and no election infrastructure was compromised in the 2020 election. In a March 2021 joint statement, DOJ and DHS, including the FBI and CISA, reported that after investigating public claims that a foreign government owned, directed, or controlled U.S. election infrastructure, or manipulated vote counts, they found no evidence that any foreign government-affiliated actor manipulated election results or otherwise compromised the integrity of the 2020 federal elections. (Joint DOJ-DHS Statement, March 16, 2021)

The declassified Intelligence Community Assessment on foreign threats to the 2020 election reflects the same conclusion reached by career analysts across the CIA, FBI, DHS, NSA, and other agencies who reviewed the exact claims being recycled tonight. The report states that the IC had no indications any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process and separately found that China did not deploy interference efforts intended to change the outcome of the presidential election. (ODNI, "Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections" (declassified March 16, 2021))

The Cato Institute, a leading nonpartisan libertarian think tank, has repeatedly examined and debunked conspiracy theories about hacked or rigged voting machines, noting that states have taken extensive steps, including voter-verifiable paper records and post-election audits, to protect election integrity, and that claims of manipulated tabulations have been contradicted by recounts, audits, and the consensus of the nation's leading election security experts. (Cato Institute, "No, The Presidential Election Was Not Rigged by Hacked Voting Machines"; Cato Institute, "Trump Is Looking for Fraud in All the Wrong Places")

The Heritage Foundation's nationwide database of alleged instances of voter fraud identifies only 99 total cases of suspected noncitizen voting going back to the year 2000. (Heritage Foundation Election Fraud Map, Accessed July 18, 2026)

About RightCount

RightCount is a nonpartisan organization founded in 2023 to strengthen public confidence in U.S. elections and support election leaders in upholding their constitutional duties. Operating across key battleground states, RightCount works with trusted voices to counter election misinformation and reinforce the integrity of the election process at the state and local level.

For more information, visit RightCount.org

Media Contact: Christopher Maloney, cmaloney@blackrockgrp.com

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