South Dakota Governor: Georgia Voters ‘Need to Get Over Themselves’

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem addresses the Republican National Convention on Aug. 26, 2020. Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Georgia voters should not let their personal feelings dominate the decision to vote in the upcoming runoff election.

Noem stressed the importance of the election and urged voters not to let their feelings get in the way of voting as she responded to a reporter’s question on what to tell those voters feeling “disenfranchised,” according to Breitbart. She went down to Georgia this weekend to campaign for Republican candidates David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

“I’ve never made a good decision when I made it out of emotion or anger and that they need to get over themselves. They need to realize that there are real consequences to this election and that they need to show up and vote for the people that have consistently defended their rights and freedoms and that’s David [Perdue] and Kelly [Loeffler],” Noem said.

During the ongoing runoff election, the presidential election results in the state are also being challenged.

Georgia Senate’s Election Law Study Subcommittee unanimously passed a motion during a Dec. 30 hearing to request an audit of absentee ballots in Fulton County, after data scientists, forensic experts, and others provided evidence and analysis of the data and equipment of the Peach State.

The upcoming runoff elections in Georgia will operate in the same manner as the Nov. 3 election, except that it is required that the results be posted much more quickly than in November when it took days before an unofficial result was available.

“We need them in Washington, DC, to continue to protect our way of life,” Noem elaborated. “We live in a country that has gotten addicted to being offended and we love to be offended by what people say.”

Senate Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are up against Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively. Currently, Republicans hold 50 seats in the Senate, while Democrats have 48.

Noem underlined the responsibility of both the voters and elected officials, urging voters to “show up and vote and make sure you’re doing it based on the facts on the difference of these candidates on Tuesday.”

Charlotte Cuthbertson and Petr Svab contributed to this report.