ATLANTA — With the Georgia GOP divided over the outcome of the presidential election, House Speaker David Ralston said Thursday he will push for the secretary of state to be appointed by lawmakers and not elected by Georgia voters.

The top Republican said he will recommend lawmakers pass a constitutional amendment in the upcoming legislative session that takes the choice of secretary of state away from Georgians.

“I think it’s time in Georgia that we look at an alternative way of electing our Secretary of State,” Ralston said. “There are more than one option is an alternative. Frankly, I like the option of having the General Assembly elect that individual for a set term.”

Ralston said constituents are frustrated and “feel like they’re being excluded” by the current Secretary of State’s office.

“I’m dead serious about this and so we can consider next session a constitutional amendment that would provide for the election of the Secretary of State of Georgia by the General Assembly and not in the fashion that it has been done for a long period of time,” the speaker said. “I think it’s the only way to right this ship. I don’t do this lightly, I don’t do this disrespectfully to the incumbent who I have high personal regard for, but I do it because we have a job to do.”

A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds majority vote in both the Georgia House and Senate to be put on the ballot for Georgians to ultimately decide on.

Although Ralston said the decision wasn’t made with ill will, he blasted the Secretary of State’s office for declining to take part in the House Governmental Affairs meeting on Thursday that delved into elections processes and false allegations of voter fraud.

Former New York Mayor and President Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani testified at the hearing — his second presentation in front of Georgia lawmakers after he attended a Senate meeting as well. 

Giuliani and other campaign lawyers’ presentations were laced with inaccuracies, conspiracy theories and baseless allegations. Other testimonials given by those who claimed to have witnessed wrongdoings were lacking concrete evidence or already tossed out in court.

The Secretary of State’s office said they declined to participate after their lawyers advised them not to due to pending litigation and decried Ralston’s announcement.

“In a clear power grab, Ralston and the Trump campaign wants to give the General Assembly the power to select winners of elections and violate the will of the people,” Deputy Secretary Jordan Fuchs said in a statement.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has faced attacks from Georgia congressmen and Trump himself after he refused to lean into Republican messaging that the election was allegedly rigged or faulty. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have both called for his resignation. Raffensperger and his staff — who have received death threats — have criticized Trump for being irresponsible and inciting violence with his persistent false claims.

Elections officials are up against an onslaught of misinformation about the election which they say has been given a platform to mislead lawmakers and the general public through House and Senate hearings.

“We have a shovel and we’re against an ocean. It’s an ocean being perpetuated by the President of the United States and his legal teams,” Gabriel Sterling, statewide voting implementation manager, said Thursday.

By not caving to the outcry of Trump loyalists, Ralston said Raffensperger is not doing the will of the people and forcing lawmakers to face angry constituents.

“The people of Georgia, they are wanting answers out of their representatives,” he said.

Ralston also criticized Raffensperger’s decision ahead of the primary and in the height of the pandemic to send out absentee ballot applications to all registered Georgia voters. During both the Senate and House elections hearings, GOP lawmakers echoed distrust in the voting method and have thrown out legislative proposals to limit the use of absentee ballots.