WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has pressed the Republican governor of Georgia to help overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in the state.

In a series of tweets, he urged Gov. Brian Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature.

According to the Washington Post, Trump called Kemp on Saturday morning and asked him to demand an audit of absentee ballot signatures. Kemp – who has no power to order such an audit – turned down the requests, a source told the newspaper.

Trump has alleged throughout the election that the increase in postal ballots had led to widespread fraud, but there has been no evidence of this.

Then on Twitter, the president turned up the pressure on the governor, saying: “I will easily & quickly win Georgia if Governor @BrianKempGA or the Secretary of State permit a simple signature verification … Why are these two ‘Republicans’ saying no?”

Kemp tweeted back that he had “publicly called for a signature audit three times,” to which Trump responded by calling for a special session of the state legislature.

Someone reportedly familiar with the call told CNN that Trump told Kemp to call the special session and convince legislators to pick electors who would support him. Under the US electoral college system, people vote for a president and then state electors – roughly in line with the population of their state – formally give their electoral college votes to a candidate. (BBC)