STANDOFF IN GEORGIA: Abrams files federal suit in bid to force runoff in gubernatorial election

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Edmund DeMarche | Fox News




Stacey Abrams' campaign on Sunday filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to delay vote certifications in Georgia’s unsettled governor's race by one day and block counties from tossing some provisional and absentee ballots that may have minor mistakes on them.

Brian Kemp, her Republican challenger, issued a statement a day earlier calling for Abrams to concede. Kemp has declared victory and said it is "mathematically impossible" for her campaign to force a runoff.

Fox 5 Atlanta reported that Kemp is up by 59,000 votes. Kemp had 50.2 percent of the vote by early Monday.

Abrams, 44, has maintained that she will not concede until every vote has been counted, and pointed to the 5,000 votes tallied over the weekend that favored her. The Washington Post reported that she would need 21,700 additional votes to force a runoff.

The suit, if successful, would prevent officials from certifying county vote totals until Wednesday and could restore at least 1,095 votes that weren't counted. The campaign said thousands of more ballots could be affected.

Kemp's campaign did not have any immediate comment on the lawsuit, according to the station. The suit was filed over alleged problems in Democratic-favoring Gwinnett and DeKalb counties in metro Atlanta.

Dara Lindenbaum, a lawyer for Abrams’ campaign, said the suit intends to stop ballots with minor mistakes -- like the voter writing the day they filled out the ballot as their date of birth -- from being rejected.

But Kemp aides previously said Abrams has no path to victory and called her refusal to concede a "disgrace to democracy."

Each of Georgia's 159 counties must certify final returns by Tuesday, and many have done so already. Abrams hopes to delay the certification until Wednesday. The state must certify a statewide result by Nov. 20.

Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams’ campaign manager, told the Post, "The bottom line is this race is not over. It is still too close to call, and we do not have confidence in the secretary of state’s office."

Abrams hopes to become the nation's first black woman elected governor, while Kemp is trying to maintain GOP dominance in a diversifying state that could be important in the presidential election in two years.

"So her margin in those uncounted votes needs to be really high," Jeffrey Lazarus, who teaches political science at Georgia State University, said Sunday in an interview conducted by email. "To put it simply, she's running out of votes."

The Associated Press has not declared a winner.

Allegations by Abrams supporters of voter suppression, long voting lines and other balloting problems are hard to ignore given Kemp's "aggressively partisan conduct as secretary of state," said Michael Kang, who teaches election law at Northwestern University's law school.

"That said, I think the Abrams campaign still faces an uphill battle in first convincing a court about the need for a recount and second, having the recount net enough votes to force a runoff. As a general matter, recounts rarely end up changing the outcomes of elections," Kang, who previously taught at Emory University in Atlanta, said in an email interview to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

[DemonGeminiX]

Fuck you. Go away, loser.

[lost in melb.]

She's too far behind

[DemonGeminiX]

She lost. That's just the way it is. I mean, I don't get this jumping up and down, screaming and crying tactic. It's not doing anything for her but making people sour to her. At this point, if there was a runoff, people now would vote against her on principle rather than policy.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

She lost. That's just the way it is. I mean, I don't get this jumping up and down, screaming and crying tactic. It's not doing anything for her but making people sour to her. At this point, if there was a runoff, people now would vote against her on principle rather than policy.

They could 'find' more votes for her like in Florida is she delays it enough

[DemonGeminiX]

The only thing they're going to find is a bunch of pissed off armed Georgians.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

COUNT EVERY VOTE! COUNT EVERY VOTE!

[DemonGeminiX]

They counted every vote. She came up short.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Benjamin Brown, Edmund DeMarche | Fox News




Democrat Stacey Abrams said she expects a federal judge to rule Wednesday in largely her favor regarding the federal lawsuit from her campaign filed over the weekend in hopes of forcing a runoff election in Georgia’s unsettled governor's race.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Abrams said her legal team plans on receiving “a ruling by noon tomorrow, and we expect to receive most of the relief we have asked for.”

If the judge rules in favor of Abrams, the suit would prevent officials from certifying county vote totals until Wednesday and could restore at least 1,095 votes that weren't counted as it would require officials to tally any votes that were wrongly rejected. The campaign said thousands of more ballots could be affected.

Each of Georgia's 159 counties must certify final returns by Tuesday, and many have done so already. The state must certify a statewide result by Nov. 20.

Brian Kemp, her Republican challenger, issued a statement on Saturday, a day before Abrams filed the lawsuit, calling for his opponent to concede. Kemp has declared victory and said it is "mathematically impossible" for her campaign to force a runoff.

Kemp had 50.3 percent of the vote as of late Tuesday evening, according to The New York Times and was leading by roughly 59,000 ballots.

Abrams’ campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, tweeted Tuesday afternoon that "it's not just provisionals, there are still Election Day and mail votes being reported in places that were ‘100%’ reported, & none from Gwinnett."

She said Abrams received 84.6 percent of the 2,738 votes reported Tuesday, before adding that the margin to force a runoff election has narrowed to 18,617.

In a separate lawsuit, a federal judge on Monday ordered Georgia to take steps to protect provisional ballots and to wait until Friday to certify the results of the midterm elections that include an unsettled race for governor.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan group, claimed in the suit that Kemp, while secretary of state, failed to maintain "the security of voter information despite known vulnerabilities" leading up to the midterm. The suit blasted the state's "provisional ballot scheme," that could disenfranchise a registered voter at the ballot box.

Judge Amy Totenberg, who was appointed by President Obama, also ruled that Georgia must not certify the election results before Friday at 5 p.m., which falls before the Nov. 20 deadline set by state law.

Abrams is hoping to become the first African-American woman governor of a U.S. state.

If Kemp is able to hold onto his narrow lead to avoid a runoff election, his governorship will be marred by lingering questions about his handling of a contentious election he oversaw as secretary of state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Elizabeth King - BRIT + CO


This afternoon, one week after the midterm elections as Georgia officials continue to count votes in the too-close-to-call race between Stacey Abrams and (now former) Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, police arrested a Georgia state senator during a rally in the state Capitol. Local CBS reporter Adam Murphy tweeted footage of police arresting state senator Nikema Williams as she stood with constituents who were rallying to demand that the state count all the votes cast in the midterms. The recount demand comes amid credible allegations of voter suppression against Kemp.

“I stood peacefully next to my constituents because they wanted their voices to be heard,” Williams said to reporters during her arrest. “And now I’m being arrested.” Constituents were also arrested during the rally, according to another Murphy tweet.

It’s been seven days since midterm Election Day, yet election battles are still ongoing in Georgia and elsewhere. The nation’s eyes have remained tightly focused on the Georgia governor’s race between Abrams and Kemp. The former Secretary of State declared victory last week, but Abrams, who trails Kemp by less than a percentage point so far, isn’t backing down — and it’s very important that she’s not.

If she wins, Abrams will become the first Black woman to be elected governor in the country’s history, and would put a liberal in a position of power in a traditionally conservative state. Abrams refused to concede on election night despite Kemp claiming a (premature) win. This week, on Monday night, a federal judge ordered a delay in declaring a victor in the election, just days after Kemp resigned from his post as Secretary of State last week (because, it turns out, he’s so sure he’s won that he’s already beginning the process of transitioning to the role of governor).

There are various reasons Kemp feels confident he’s won the race, even though votes are still being counted.

Kemp was found to have delayed processing over 50,000 voter registrations, primarily from Black voters, in his capacity as Secretary of State. While those voters were still allowed to vote with legally required ID, the delay caused confusion among voters leading up to Election Day, according to the New York Times. Further, the Georgia chapter of the NAACP filed a complaint in late October claiming that voting machines were switching early votes for Abrams to votes for Kemp. And on Election Day itself, many voters in the greater Atlanta area had to wait in line for hours at their polling place because there were so few working machines present, even though other voting machines sat unused in storage.

The combination of all these elements has Abrams, her supporters, and voting rights groups ready to fight for fair election results where everyone’s vote is counted accurately. By refusing to back down amid tactics that likely benefitted her opponent, Abrams is fighting not just for her own victory, but also for voting rights more broadly in a time when they are deeply under attack.



It wasn’t just Georgians who had to deal with voter suppression leading up to these midterms, but registered voters all over the country. North Dakota lawmakers passed a new law requiring voters to have an ID that includes a street address, making it much more difficult for Native Americans who live on rural reservations to qualify to vote. And several other states including Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio passed new, stricter voter ID laws earlier this year, the New Yorker reports.

As conservative legislators continue to make it harder for people (especially people of color) to vote, we need champions for voting rights and integrity in office. By refusing to give in to Kemp’s claim to the win, Abrams is demonstrating that integrity in elections still matters, and must matter. Unlike Kemp, Abrams is not attempting to subvert or undermine the process by delaying registrations and declaring victories in a very tight race that hasn’t been officially decided. She is merely insisting that there can be no winner in this election until each of the votes has been tallied.

And for now, that’s exactly what’s happening in Georgia. Officials are still counting provisional and other ballots that hadn’t yet been counted, where the final results of the election won’t be known until Friday at the earliest.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Samuel Chamberlain | Fox News




A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the results of Georgia's gubernatorial race cannot be certified until certain absentee ballots have been counted.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones came hours after Republican Brian Kemp claimed to have an "insurmountable lead" over Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is seeking to become the first black woman elected governor in the U.S.

Jones ruled that each county's certified vote tally must include absentee ballots on which the voter's date of birth is missing or incorrect, an order that stems from a request in a lawsuit filed by the Abrams campaign over the weekend. However, Jones declined Democratic requests to extend the period during which evidence could be submitted to prove the eligibility of voters who cast provisional ballots. He also declined to order that provisional ballots cast by voters who went to a precinct in the wrong county be counted.

Kemp currently has 50.27 percent of the vote, compared to 48.79 percent for Abrams. Abrams' campaign believes she needs a net gain of 17,759 votes to pull Kemp below the 50 percent threshold and force a Dec. 4 runoff. Kemp's campaign said even if every vote that Abrams campaign is arguing for is granted by the courts and counted for her, she cannot overcome his lead or force a runoff.

Both sides have accused the other of wrongdoing, with Democrats casting doubt on any vote count that ends with Kemp -- Georgia's former secretary of state -- being certified as the winner.

"We believe that Brian Kemp mismanaged this election to sway it in his favor," Abrams' campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo said earlier Wednesday, surrounded by Democratic lawmakers at the Georgia Capitol.

For their part, Kemp's campaign repeated calls for Abrams to concede, accusing her and her supporters of using "fake vote totals," "desperate press conferences" and "dangerous lawsuits" to try to steal the election.

"After all of the theatrics, the math remains the same," Kemp campaign spokesman Cody Hall said in an email. "Abrams lost and Brian Kemp won. This election is over."

The lawsuit Jones ruled on Wednesday was one of several election-related complaints filed before multiple federal judges.

U.S. District Judge Leigh May ordered Gwinnett County election officials Tuesday not to reject absentee ballots just because the voter's birth year is missing or wrong. She also ordered the county to delay certification of its election results until those ballots have been counted.

Jones' ruling effectively extended May's order to the other 158 counties in Georgia.

U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg late Monday ordered state officials not to do their final certification of election results before 5 p.m. Friday.

State law sets a Nov. 20 deadline, but secretary of state's office elections director Chris Harvey testified last week that the state had planned to certify the election results Wednesday, a day after the deadline for counties to certify their results. He said that would allow preparations to begin for any runoff contests, including those already projected in the races for secretary of state and a Public Service Commission seat.

Totenberg's order left untouched the county certification deadline. Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office, said Wednesday that all counties but Gwinnett have certified their totals.

Totenberg also ordered the secretary of state's office to establish and publicize a hotline or website enabling voters to check whether their provisional ballots were counted and, if not, why not. And she ordered the secretary of state's office to review or have county election authorities review the eligibility of voters who had to cast provisional ballots because of registration issues.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[DemonGeminiX]

So judges are ruling now that the law doesn't matter at all. Right. Got it.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

She's doing anything she can to get his share of the votes to fall under that 50.00% threshold so she can have her 'do over' election.

[DemonGeminiX]

I know.

The Democrats whine and cry and stomp their feet and demand demand demand, and the rest of us are just giving in like tired, worn out parents that just want some peace and quiet. And the Republicans don't do anything at all... they don't speak up, they don't fight back... because they're spineless.

This country is full of enablers.

[lost in melb.]

She lost. That's just the way it is. I mean, I don't get this jumping up and down, screaming and crying tactic. It's not doing anything for her but making people sour to her. At this point, if there was a runoff, people now would vote against her on principle rather than policy.

Hate to say.. Reminds me of a certain tennis player