More lawsuits are in the pipeline challenging Georgia’s election. Two were filed over the weekend.
What’s clear is that in the days since the election, Democrat Stacey Abrams has gained ground on Republican Brian Kemp in the governor’s election. The question is whether there’s enough ground left to change the result that still strongly favors Kemp.
We found ten lawsuits filed this fall challenging Georgia’s voting structure, including the two filed over the weekend.
In October, a California-based left-wing journalist named Greg Palast filed suit challenged the removal of voters from Georgia’s registration list.
Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux filed a suit this weekend. She is 900 votes shy of beating Congressman Rob Woodall in Georgia’s seventh district. Her suit would require Gwinnett County to count absentee ballots the county has ruled ineligible due to paperwork errors. "There were small errors like this. They were not important for verifying whether a voter was eligible or not. Because of that these votes are not being counted," Bourdeaux said Monday.
A Democratic Party suit on behalf of Abrams requests more time to count provisional ballots. They're the votes cast when voters can’t verify their eligibility, requiring them to return to county voting offices with ID or documentation. The deadline for counting those votes was Friday.
Late Monday afternoon, Abrams was 57,767 votes behind Kemp – some 1102 votes closer than she’d been at 6am Monday.
“The votes that have continued to come in have overwhelmingly supported Abrams, but the battle (is about) ensuring every voice is heard,” said a statement from Abrams campaign.
Meantime, Brian Kemp’s campaign language was more incendiary, citing “Abrams’ baseless accusations and obvious lies” and denouncing “frivolous lawsuits” filed by “liberal lawyers.”
“They are trying to steal” the election, Kemp’s campaign said.
The state is due to certify the election Wednesday. When the federal courts reopen Tuesday after the Veterans Day holiday, we may learn how firm that deadline really is.
