Federal Judge Delays Georgia Governor Vote Certification, as Democrats Hunt for More Votes
Abrams needs at least 20K more votes to have a runoff against Kemp.
On November 5, Common Cause Georgia filed a lawsuit that accused Georgia governor candidate Brian Kemp, who held the office of secretary of state until he resigned last week, “of acting recklessly after a vulnerability in Georgia’s voter registration database was exposed shortly before the election.”
The organization claimed that Kemp’s “actions increased the risk that eligible voters could be illegally removed from the voter registration database or have registration information illegally altered.”
Judge Amy Totenberg of the Federal District Court in Atlanta ordered officials to wait until Friday to certify the governor’s race and do all they can to protect provisional ballots.
From The Wall Street Journal:
In a ruling late Monday, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg ordered the secretary of state’s office to establish and publicize a hotline or website where voters can check whether their provisional ballots were counted and, if not, the reason why.
For counties with 100 or more provisional ballots, she ordered the secretary of state’s office to review, or have county election officials review, the eligibility of voters who had to cast a provisional ballot because of registration issues.
Judge Totenberg also ruled that Georgia mustn’t certify the election results before Friday at 5 p.m., which falls before the Nov. 20 deadline set by state law.
This ruling does not move the “deadline for countries to certify their results,” which is today. However, Abrams filed her own lawsuit to extend that deadline:
But Ms. Abrams’s campaign filed a lawsuit Sunday asking a federal court to push that deadline to Wednesday, while also requiring that elections authorities count certain provisional and absentee ballots that have been or would be rejected for “arbitrary reasons.”
“I am fighting to make sure our democracy works for and represents everyone who has ever put their faith in it. I am fighting for every Georgian who cast a ballot with the promise that their vote would count,” Ms. Abrams said in a statement explaining her refusal to end her bid to become the first black woman elected governor in U.S. history.
Kemp’s campaign described Abram’s moves as “a disgrace to democracy” and accused her of ignoring “mathematical realities.” The campaign has a point.
She needs 20,000 votes in order to have a runoff. Kemp is in the lead by 50.26%.
A few hundred more votes just came in and the margin in the race for governor remains the same. @staceyabrams still needs to net 20k+ votes to force a runoff. We should get provisional ballots from DeKalb & Gwinnett later today – two heavily D counties. #gapol pic.twitter.com/6A5u5OD1VR
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) November 13, 2018
Democrat Sens. Cory Booker (NJ) and Brian Schatz (HI) have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate possible “voting rights abuses.” From WDEF:
Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Brian Schatz of Hawaii released a letter Monday to Assistant Attorney General Dreiband. The senators cite concerns with Georgia’s “exact match” law requiring voters’ information to match precisely how they appear on other government databases. They also cite aggressive efforts to delete inactive voters from the rolls and the elimination of polling places.
Booker and Schatz’s letter requests a “thorough investigation” to determine if Georgia’s election laws and policies violate the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court in 2013 rolled back a provision of that law requiring Georgia and other states to get federal approval before changing voting laws.
Kemp’s campaign wants Abrams to concede:
Kemp campaign spokesman Ryan Mahoney said in a statement Monday that Abrams had “moved from desperation to delusion.”
Mahoney said: “Stacey Abrams lost and her concession is long overdue.”
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Comments
because of course the judge did…
the civil war keeps getting closer.
Its what the left wants: the grandaddy of all crises.
Imagine their stalinist solution?
Throw another baby on the barbie, it’s not over.
The judge is the sister of npr’s legal correspondent, Nina Totenberg, and an Obama appointee.
because of course she is…
we are no longer a nation of laws.
I repeat again: Political operatives much more plugged in that I am have been rightfully preaching for years >>> If a conservative or GOP candidate wants to win statewide elections (senator and president), they have to target winning by a least a percentage point or more. It’s vital to overcome the “fix” that it routinely set up by the left. Rarely do recounts matter. Often the chaos and finding of votes all over does deliver victory. Time and again. Whether in the back of class rooms, the trunk of cars, or just mysteriously appearing from thin air, there are built in buffers that almost uniformly help the Dem candidate. Chaos is key. Broward is proof, election after election. But other states follow similar tactics (like MN in the last decade).
This is a State of Florida matter. It should have gone through the Florida Supreme Court before EVER reaching a Federal Judge.
One more load of Bananas for the Republic.
How is it a state of Florida matter?
It is the race for governor of Georgia.
The reference to the state of florida probably deals the concept that rules/laws/procedures for electing senators are determined by the state and therefore the disputes have to be resolved under applicable state law before reaching the federal courts.
In gore v bush, everything was decided by the state courts before going to federal court. Though it should be noted that the Florida district was the only Florida court that got the law and facts correct.
What has any of that got to do with an election for governor of Georgia?
Milhouse – looks like I didnt read the article carefully enough, mistakenly thought the case was about the senate race.
That being said, the case should be adjudicated in state court under GA state constitution. Unless there is a VRA violation, the Fed courts would have little or no jurisdiction.
Joe-Dallas, your comment was a reply to Robin’s, which explicitly pointed out that error. So how could you have read that comment, replied to it, and still think we were talking about Florida?
Satan’s throne is in Broward county, don’tchaknow.
It may well be, but Robin’s question still stands.
This particular article is not about Florida.
Law is simply politics by another venue.
Baracky Obommunist nominee.
The country is currently being run out of Kalorama whether we, the people, like it, or not.
Ridiculous. State law prevails. The judge is purposely siding with the Democrats.
“State law prevails”… Not! We live in the world of a Living Constitution and Living Laws… that can adapt at a second’s notice to adjust for unseen issues. Laws are only applicable if they are applied correctly to the needed outcome. Protecting “provisional ballots”… how about protecting all ballots legally cast? Integrity of the voting process is now only the domain of “cast” votes with intentionally lax procedures prior to voting. As I wrote earlier the mantra appears to be “better to let 10 improper votes be cast for a Democrat then let a single Republican’s vote not be counted”.
Abrams has been very active in the American Constitution Society, which as this article from October shows, is quite intentional in pushing that very vision. https://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/advancing-a-left-liberal-jurisprudence/
ACS was founded with Soros funding at Yale Law in 2005 and is an active component of the admitted progressive effort to create a New American Majority through groups like ACS that make up the Democracy Alliance. When Abrams speaks about a Georgia that works for all she is unabashedly embracing a vision of Democracy that is a renamed effort of what Marx called the Human Development Society. Using the law to install a vision where the government has an obligation to see that everyon’s fundamental needs are met.
I’m an expert on the education component of the vision and had t learn the rest of the story to track it. AC laid out in a piece written by now California Justice Goodwin Liu just how crucial national education standards ould be to creating the necessary consciousness that would perceive the need for fundamental change.
State law prevails, unless it conflicts with federal law, such as the Voting Rights Act
Go to Avis and check the trunks!
I seem to remember the democrats getting bent out of shape when the Supreme court got involved withe the 2000 presidential election, guess the shoe is on the other foot and it doesn’t matter this time.
Your memory needs refreshing I fear. The Florida problem was that only selected votes were being recounted with the desire to discern the “intent” of the voter. ALL votes were not given equal weight.. just those in areas where more Dem votes could be mined.
There’s only one way to remove Abrams as Governor permanently, or at least make her ineffective. Attack her weak points.
Send her 3 dozen Krispy Creme donuts every day.
Send BBQ and Cole Slaw on the odd days, and shrimp on the even days.
Steal her ‘miracle arm’ from the ladies room and at the same time, restock the TP with govt. grade TP.
Find her weaknesses, and attack.
Damn, that might work as well with moooochelle obama.
Hell, out the donuts between them and we’ll see a fight to the death.
Mooocelle in 2020 (pounds, that is.)
Everyone keeps talking about hundreds or even thousands of ‘provisional ballots’ in these contested elections.
I’ve been an election judge in Missouri, near Kansas City, for 9 years, and never once have I ever filled out a provisional ballot. Plus, I’ve never worked with another judge who has filled out a provisional ballot.
Who the hell are all these people who need all these provisional ballots in all these precincts across all these states??
If you don’t live in a precinct, you can’t vote in that precinct – except by provisional ballot – and even then it will be tossed out because you don’t live in that precinct.
WTH is this? A scam???
That doesn’t seem plausible. In my tiny district, with only 263 registered voters in the book (of which 170 voted), we issued 10 affidavit ballots, from people who claim to live in the district and therefore ought to be in the book but aren’t, or for some other reason insisted on voting there. How small is your district that you had none? Or are your books so up-to-date and accurate that nobody who didn’t appear there showed up to vote?
My county no longer uses a computer print-out “book”. Each precinct has laptops with the most up to date database of registered voters (n.b. we do not allow late/same day registration, all applications for registration must be postmarked 30 days before election day).