Georgia state Sen. Greg Dolezal, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, admitted to falsifying absentee ballot applications. He said he and “a number of friends” submitted forms with altered signatures, including ones signed by children. They then used the received ballots as evidence that Georgia’s election system facilitates fraud.
Dolezal made the admission in a February Charlie Kirk Show interview, which he posted to his YouTube channel. “I signed my own absentee ballot request form with a signature that in no way, shape or form matched my actual signature,” he said. “I had friends who had their kids sign their absentee ballot request form and next thing you know, the ballot comes in.”
He said participants spanned multiple counties. “I had people botch their signatures in multiple counties, Cherokee, Gwinnett,” Dolezal said. “They all tested the system, and in every single case all of us got our ballots back.”
Under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-381, submitting false information on an absentee ballot application can carry penalties of up to $100,000 per violation and one to ten years in prison.
Dolezal won Georgia’s Republican lieutenant governor runoff last week. He faces state Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Atlanta, in November. On Monday, the Georgia House considered an amended election bill requiring manual recounts in the top two races before certification, an amendment Dolezal proposed.
Netizens Demand Prosecution After Georgia GOP Nominee Admits Falsifying Ballot Applications
The admission drew immediate and widespread public backlash, with users across social media platforms calling for criminal prosecution.
“We can prove the system works by putting him in jail,” one user wrote, drawing over 1,600 upvotes. Another stated, “It’s absolutely a felony — there’s no ‘just testing’ exception.” A separate commenter noted, “Voter fraud is one of the few crimes where the criminal gives the evidence directly to the authorities.”
One user wrote, “All of the ‘election fraud’ calls have been coming from inside the house.”
One user argued that what Dolezal described “proves nothing,” noting signature comparison occurs when completed ballots are returned, not at the application stage. Another raised an evidentiary concern, “This doesn’t prove anything other than they received ballots. Ballots cast and accepted as votes would be a better form of proof.”
Dolezal’s office has not responded to requests for comment. No charges have been filed. The Georgia House was still considering the manual recount bill Monday.
