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Second Georgia woman who was said to be 'dead voter' by Trump campaign clarifies she is alive and 'did vote'

This futile attempt was one of many accusations that the Trump campaign has seized upon to argue that Democratic nominee Joe Biden's victory was illegitimate

Linda Kesler, a second "dead person" in Georgia, who was alleged to have voted, has responded to the absurd claims in what marks as another giant blow to the Trump Campaign. Kesler follows another woman called Agnes Blalock, who had to explain that she voted in her married name Mrs James Blalock, which had caused confusion among the president's campaign.

After it was discovered that a Linda Kesler had died in 2003, the Trump campaign added her name to cite illegal voters and rampant fraud in the 2020 presidential elections. The Jackson County Board of Elections recently clarified the mistake saying that the woman who voted in this year's election was actually Lynda Kesler, who spelled her name differently.

"Linda Kesler of Nicholson was marked deceased in 2003 and did not vote," the board of elections said, explaining: "Lynda Kesler who has a different address, birthday, and zip who is entitled to vote — did vote."

This futile attempt was one of the many accusations that the Trump campaign has seized upon to argue that Democratic nominee Joe Biden's victory is illegitimate. The campaign is currently contesting results in court and also in Georgia, where a manual recount is to be audited due to the narrow margin between Trump and Biden.

The latter is ahead of Trump in Georgia by 14,000 votes, or a 0.3% margin, with Biden's team claiming they don't expect the recount to overturn his Georgia win. 

Kesler's response debunking the Trump campaign's claims to paint the elections fraudulent comes just a day after Fox News host Tucker Carlson had to apologize for highlighting the case of Blalock on his segment. On November 11, the Trump campaign alleged that James Blalock, a World War II veteran in Covington, had died 14 years ago but illegally voted this year. This had prompted Carlson to highlight the incident on Fox News.

He had also run an opinion piece on the same, claiming, "No one quite embodies that story like James Blalock of Covington, Georgia. Mr Blalock was a mailman for 33 years until he passed away in 2006," on Thursday's Tucker Carlson Tonight. "Fourteen years later, according to state records he was still mailing things. James Blalock cast a ballot in last week's election."

Soon after the piece was aired, various local news outlets in Georgia found that two people cited by the Trump reelection campaign as dead illegal votes cast turned out to be living people mistaken for being dead. Newton County officials soon debunked Carlson's claims that Blalock's was an illegal vote, explaining that it was his widow, registered under Mrs James Blalock, who had voted in the 2020 elections.

Blalock has indeed been dead since 2006 and his widow used his name to cast her ballot. The news was debunked by Georgia news station 11Alive's Chief Investigator Brendan Keefe, who also called out Carlson for spreading misinformation under the name of voter fraud.

"False," Keefe said of Carlson's claims, adding: "James Blalock did not vote in last week's election. Mrs James Blalock voted in last week's election," Keefe said on Friday. When approached by 11Alive, Agnesm, admitted to voting for Biden, clarified the confusion saying "He's (her husband, James) not voting. He didn't vote. It was me."

Despite the debunked claims of his campaign, Trump took to Twitter on Saturday, November 14, night once again to assert voting fraud and irregularities against Republican poll challengers. He wrote: "There is tremendous evidence of widespread voter fraud in that there is irrefutable proof that our Republican poll watchers and observers were not allowed to be present in poll counting rooms. Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and others. Unconstitutional!"