Stacey Abrams May Sue for Do-Over in Georgia Governor Election
Abrams will not give up even though Kemp has a large lead.
Georgia’s Democrat governor candidate Stacey Abrams’ campaign has started to prepare to push for a new election for the governor’s race.
The campaign’s argument in court “would be that as many as 18,000 voters could have been disenfranchised.” From the Associated Press:
The Democrat’s longshot strategy relies on a statute that’s never been used in such a high-stakes contest. It is being discussed as Georgia elections officials appear to be on the cusp of certifying Republican Brian Kemp as the winner of a bitterly fought campaign that’s been marred by charges of electoral malfeasance.
Top Abrams advisers outlined her prospective case to The Associated Press, stressing that the Democratic candidate hasn’t finalized a decision about whether to proceed once state officials certify Kemp as the victor. That could happen as early as Friday evening.
Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Abrams’ campaign chairwoman, is overseeing a team of almost three-dozen lawyers who in the coming days will draft the petition, along with a ream of affidavits from voters and would-be voters who say they were disenfranchised. Abrams would then decide whether to go to court under a provision of Georgia election law that allows losing candidates to challenge results based on “misconduct, fraud or irregularities … sufficient to change or place in doubt the results.”
The legal team is “considering all options,” Lawrence-Hardy said, including federal court remedies. But the state challenge is the most drastic. And some Democratic legal observers note Abrams would be dependent on statutes that set a high bar for the court to intervene.
Abrams needs 20,000 votes in order to have a runoff. Republican Brian Kemp leads with 50.2% of the vote with 3.9 million votes, “which puts him 18,000 above the threshold required to win by a majority and avoid a Dec. 4 runoff.” Abrams’ campaign have tried to find irregularities in those 18,000 votes:
Cathy Cox, a Democrat who served as secretary of state from 1999 through 2007 and is now the dean of Mercer University’s law school, said Georgia law puts a heavy burden on candidates such as Abrams who ask a court to intervene.
“I would say with pretty great confidence there has probably never been an election … without some irregularity, where some poll worker did not make some mistake,” Cox said in an interview. The key, she said, is proving someone erred to the point that it could change the outcome.
Lawrence-Hardy agreed the law requires a quantitative analysis. She said Abrams’ team doesn’t have a list of 18,000 disenfranchised voters. The evidence, she said, would consist of hundreds, if not thousands of such examples, along with data analysis of projected lost votes based on other problems, such as a lack of paper ballots at precincts where voting machines broke down and voters left long lines.
Cox said courts must attempt to apply a nonpartisan standard of “doubt” to the election. “Would a reasonable person have a reason to doubt this election? Not would a hard-core partisan Democrat doubt a partisan Republican opponent,” she said.
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When do the people step up and say “enough”? Can the Constitution withstand the constant assault on the rights of the “People” (read here citizen) to choise their representatives through a free and election? When can we go to the polls again on Tuesday and know on Wednesday morning what to expect for the next 2, 4, or 6 years.
This race isn’t remotely close enough for these shenanigans. The guy won by 1.5%.
The key, she said, is proving someone erred to the point that it could change the outcome.
The easiest way to do that, would be to find someone willing to lie. Good luck finding a Dimocrat willing to lie to help Dimocrats win an election.
That would be like finding sand on the beach.
This is not about winning although they will take a stolen victory. This is about stoking resentment and creating a false narrative around stolen elections.
See also this entry in the US Dictionary of Election Terminology:
Chutzpah – n., the act of, after failing to steal an election, throwing a temper tantrum complaining falsely that the other side stole the election.
the democrats are really trying to steal this election, I doubt the new if there is one will be restricted to the people that voted in the first one, so that there will be a lot of new voters added to the rolls to vote. it might be time to look at the number of voter that logged in to vote and the actually voters, especially the recently registered voters.
one more thing , they tried a stunt they tried in Indiana when the voter id law went in effect. they trotted out an old lady and tried to show she had trouble registering to vote, come to find out she had a Florida drivers license and was voting in both places.
Democracy now! Believe all poll results!
Oh. Wait. That only applies when Leftists win. Plan B is to forum shop for a sympathetic judge. Repeat until successful.
I think this sums it up nicely: “Cathy Cox, a Democrat who served as secretary of state from 1999 through 2007 and is now the dean of Mercer University’s law school, said Georgia law puts a heavy burden on candidates such as Abrams who ask a court to intervene.
“I would say with pretty great confidence there has probably never been an election … without some irregularity, where some poll worker did not make some mistake,” Cox said in an interview. The key, she said, is proving someone erred to the point that it could change the outcome.”
Yup. And 18,000 ‘erred’ is a pretty wide gap to fill.
This quixotic battle being waged by Oprah’s 2nd cousin is not helpful to Georgia, specifically, nor the country, in general. Abrams should be gracious and concede, and live to fight another day.
To continue this divisive struggle looks like rage, not measured determination. It will accomplish nothing but cultivate more rancor and resentment in the Leftist ranks. This in turn will lede to more angry mobs venting their collective spleen against Republicans in public, yet the evil orange ‘literally hitler’ will be blamed.
Because Trump is so uncivil, doanchaknow?
When you see a story line promoted by AP you may presume that bias is built in.
This is not about anything but sowing doubt in the minds of black voters in Georgia so when 2020 comes around they’ll vote Democrat at nearly 100%.
While I am skeptical, there are signs that the Black voters are weakening on staying on the Democrat Plantation.
Approval for Trump among blacks is growing and when I last saw it was 30%.
Of course that could be all gone if a black person is running for office, cause we are racist, or something. …
As I understand it the Lefties plan to rely on a statistical model to demonstrate that enough votes were tainted to justify a new election. That should work as well as the statistical models that predict global warming. You know, the same kinds of statistical models that gave Hillary a 96% chance of winning on the day before the election.
The Jim Acosta argument: Abrams has a right to be a governor and the electorate can not deny her that right.
While I get your meaning with this post, it really bothers the hell out of me when everything is turned into a right…
We have been turning into a nation of wussies thanks to the left and their never ending quest to rule every aspect of our lives.
that was Hillary’s line
Given the astounding lack of grace and dignity Ms. Abrams has shown, a second election would result only in Mr. Kemp winning by a wider margin. I guess then should sue for Round 3?
Why is this a “long shot” for Abrams? All she needs is a Federal judge to ignore the law and call for a new election because of “fairness” (the all-purpose tool of dictators). The Federal judiciary is an open sewer, so that should be easy for her.
The funniest part is that even with irregularities, her only hope is a runoff election.
Kemp stole the election… Kemp has always lead the election. Abrams is simply fighting for a do over. Will she find a judge that thinks a net 18,000 people would have voted for her? They shouldnt (irregularity would cut for Kemp as well, so the total would have to be much higher).
Count every vote!
Theres not enough.
Um, you have to count the ones that gave up and didnt vote so we need to redo the vote.
Is there a law that covers redoing an election? How can a judge rule on a law that doesn’t exist?
Ignore this, my brain didn’t process “runoff”. apologies.
Could we make election fraud by a public election official a capital crime ?
Her skin color gives her the absolute right to never lose an election. Its never their fault, their political philosophy, their allegiances, its always the voters racism.
“The Cambridge police acted stupidly”
“If I had a son he would have looked like Trayvon”
It isn’t over until the Fat Lady wins
Courtesy of frequent poster Henry Hawkins
Democrats should file their suits before any election. That would save the rest of us from voting.
What a hateful leftist bitch…..