What am I missing here? Kemp has a lead by 63,000 votes. There are few than 25,000 balls left to be counted and 22,000 of them are "provisional ballots", which means that 22,000 people must now go to the county registrar and show the required proof of their eligibility to vote.
Let's assume that all 22,000 people actually do this (seems like if they're a bit casual in their approach to registration and voting, they might not be likely to actually do this). And let's assume that ALL 22,000 of these people actually voted for Ms Adams. Yet, I have read that she would need to get nearly 100,000 more votes in order for a run-off to be held.
It's hard to lose an election where one fought so hard, but grace in defeat is far better than lawsuits that will go on forever.
1
Who in their right mind would think that directly supervising an election in which you are a candidate would give the electorate an impression of fairness? Not a smart move by Mr. Kemp.
1
Why is it that the clearly uninformed, commenting with their favorite "get over it" are always men? So glad I play for the rainbow team. Straight women must have immense patience.
3
Kemp finally resigned as Sec of State today, two days after the election. Kinda tells you what we're dealing with in Georgia.
2
Where is America's justice system? Down the toilet with the crackpot Trump in charge. He must be impeached so we can restore the law in the USA.
1
After the Florida Bush v. Gore debacle, no Democrat must ever again concede under close and disputed circumstances until every vote has been counted and verified.
7
I know a black female lawyer in Savannah who got to the polls there only to be told that her voter registration had expired and that she could not vote. She has been an active voter in Savannah for over 20 years, but suddenly her registration"expired"? It took her 45 minutes of arguing with the poll worker and the threat of a lawsuit to be able to cast a provisional vote.
I know of two polling places in my heavily Democratic neighborhood which inexplicably were issued only three voting machines rather than the ten they'd had for the primaries. The elections office claimed 'a mistake in the paperwork', and sent two more - neither of which worked. Voters stood in lines for hours.
Brian Kemp is a fraud, a liar and an extreme partisan who abused every power of his office to tilt the election, closing polling places in black neighborhoods, having racist robocalls, failing to install secure voting machines, linking his campaign website to the Secretary of State's official website, making false accusations against Stacey Abrams and the Democratic Party of Georgia, stripping voter registrations by the tens of thousands, and on and on.
In no way can this election be considered legitimate and in no way should Georgia have a governor imposed by illegal manipulation.
20
The scenario placing Brian Kemp, Secretary of State over the administration of an election in which he is a candidate demonstrates a blatant conflict of interest. Kemp was responsible for reducing the number of voting machines in predominantly black neighborhoods. Kemp was in charge of rejecting the voter registration applications of hundreds of thousands of new voters, registered by Stacey Abrams' campaign. Kemp was in charge of purging eligible voters from participation in the election. Kemp was in charge of implementing more stringent voter registration requirements (i.e., photo identification required to vote and the "exact match" signature requirement). Kemp suppressed the registration of voters he knew would not be in his favor. Kemp's actions, as a public servant, spit in the face of democracy and fairness, and his resignation after so much obstruction means absolutely nothing. This is nothing short of a stolen election. I'm proud of Stacey Abrams for not conceding. We must continue to fight for justice. American justice isn't just for some, it must be for all. The American Dream must be something that all people are entitled to share, or it too is meaningless. The degree of hurdles presented (i.e., photo identification required to vote) is staggering. A 77 year old woman who went to the polls with her social security card, Medicare card and voter registration card was told she did not have sufficient identification to vote. This is unconscionable in America.
7
Reports of voting problems had flooded the state on Tuesday, as residents described hours-long lines and polling places struggled with a shortage of voting machines, broken equipment and a dearth of printed provisional ballots. Noting that many of the reports came from communities with large minority populations, voting rights advocates charged Kemp with using his power as the state’s chief election official to interfere with the race. Kemp has strongly denied claims of impropriety. --- The old guard never goes willingly, but after a fight, Georgia will mirror the growing influence of well educated professionals, including those who work for a growing TV and film industry of Georgia.
3
These types of efforts to suppress voting and raise the race card (or fake accusations) as Kemp has done simply assure that the Dems will take over in the 2020s.
Like Trump, Kemp has gone with short term success while destroying the Republican Party. Lading in racism, protectionism, etc., might win this election but it will set the party up for failure. Ask Brownback!
I do feel troubled by a likely unchecked left from 2024 onwards. Math is math. The country is in debt around 20 trillion dollars. There will be no conservatives (or moderate liberals) to deal with our children’s future.
I also feel sorry for whoever has to deal with Trump’s bad deeds once he’s gone. Much like Obama’s inheritance of a mess in 2008 from GWB (who is an angel compared to our current boss).
2
This whole Georgia election episode is a travesty ... it stinks to high heaven. The GOP is literally stealing elections and getting away with it.
23
First, wrongly eliminate voters from the roll. Then, declare victory before these voters’ provisional ballots can be verified and counted. Vile. It really does not get more corrupt than this self-dealing. It’s one step further even than having your brother deliver the presidency as Jeb did for W.
13
Abrams does the right thing—not to concede until every vote counts.
Abrams, please be vigilant because majority of Americans are on your side—we demand every vote is counted.
20
@May MacGregor
Ok, but when she loses, no whining about it, ok?
1
The race is by no means too close to call. The Democrats are simply trying to reverse it. This kind of stuff makes Trump stronger.
5
@Mike Livingston: "The race is by no means too close to call". Does this mean all votes are counted and the election is now certified? And if so, certified by whom? Does Kemp certify his winning the election himself?
If actively impeding the votes of legitimate citizens - which in spite of Kemp's denials, seems reasonably accurate - make Trump stronger, then something is seriously wrong with our country.
2
@Mike Livingston You are in Pennsylvania. You know nothing. I have friends and colleagues who ran face first into Brian Kemp's vile machinations to suppress the vote of those unlikely to vote for him. Even with Kemp's outright cheating and illegal abuse of office, the race is still too close to call. Trump's electoral manipulations and lies makes this acceptable behavior by Republicans. There is no excuse for any American gloating at the abuse of democracy by elected officials.
4
How can a candidate oversee the election? There are so many sides to US elections that would not be allowed in other western democracies.
12
Sure Kemp stole the election. But every single Georgia citizen who decided to not vote was a willing accomplice, and that' s a whole lot more lost votes than 22,000 provisional ballots. When are we going to learn? If we want democracy, we are going to have to stand up and participate. Otherwise we might as well just hand things over to the Republican Kremlin-lovers right now.
5
Once again, it appears that an independent candidate with no chance of winning snatched the election from the Democrat.
3
@Kathy McAdam Hahn
Not really.
Stacey lost by 62k votes, the independent got 32k votes.
She still lost by over 30k votes.
Every single vote should count. I have had to vote with absentee and overseas ballots before, and I would have wanted my vote counted too!
4
The fact that it is even possible in the US for someone who is running for office to also be in charge of counting the votes for that office is precisely why so many Americans don't vote.
16
@Humanesque
That makes absolutely no sense and is baseless as an excuse for why people don't vote.
I’m pretty sure doubt in the legitimacy of the process is a big reason not to vote. After all, if you believe the system is fixed, why bother?
2
@Curtis M It isn't the only one, but it is an important one. Think about it. You live in a town where A and B are running for office, and A also gets to count the ballots. If you prefer A, you don't vote because hey, A's counting the ballots, so A will win anyway. If you prefer B, you don't vote because sadly, B has no chances of winning; A's the one counting the ballots.
1
I hope the Democrats have the wherewithal to challenge Kemp's refusal to recuse himself from running for governor, while concurrently being the one in charge of voting as the Secretary of State for Georgia. There DEFINITELY is something illegal, if not immoral that certainly should be addressed by the House over Kemp!
9
Word is Kemp just resigned as GA Secretary of State.
The thief leaves the scene of the crime...
7
@The Jeffersonian
He resigned so he could be sworn in as Governor.
Can't hold both positions at once.
geesh, Liberals
Kemp resigned today as Secretary of State ostensibly to avoid any hint of impropriety over the recount. I don't know a single Democrat in Georgia who believes his resignation at this late date doesn't signal his fix is already in. He's now just taking a breather until he moves into the governor's mansion come January.
12
Could the General Assembly or Deal forced him to resign? I don’t know. But this is a nuclear conflict of interest
1
I've taken issue with the use of "Resist" ... Resistance ... "The Resistance" .. since the 2016 election because I've seen very little "resistance" beyond marches, protests and pink hats, and rallying cries to "Just you wait 'til November!" for the midterms ... And I don't take those demonstrations and their intent nor those we hear less of that have equal or greater impact lightly, but this ... this is Resistance in motion, and I applaud Ms. Abrams it.
Let's not be naive, there is some self-interest in this fight (understandably, it's a contest folks) (Kemp thought it was in his interest not to recuse his SoS position). All the same, what rises higher to the surface of this situation is an insistence on everyone's voice being heard in spite of prevailing systems that seek to quash them and in doing so cut off access to opportunities, quality of life, agency for a significant demographic that ultimately is not limited to black people but poor people, women, other racial and ethnic minorities, children, and other underrepresented and vulnerable voices.
Ms. Abrams is refusing to be OK with that. Through action, she has literally said "no" to the status quo. However this concludes, thank you, Stacey.
9
It's completely disingenuous for Kemp to say that counting all the votes should not be completed. In fact, there probably are some votes in there for him but obviously he knows that the majority of those votes will be for Abrams and thus he's attempting to circumvent the law. Republican's too should be very wary about efforts to suppress the votes of fellow citizens - it's simply un American.
11
If there is a run-off election, I hope they will use all paper ballots and throw those voting machines out!
9
Mr. Kemp nor his operatives can be believed. Every single last vote must be counted.
14
Another stolen election. Brazen. I am sure our patriotic white evangelical friends will renounce the suppression/theft of others’ votes. What’s that you say? They are happy with denying other people their right to vote. They don’t care about fairness or democracy. What would Jesus do, indeed.
31
As a lark, I perused the "Readers Picks," sorted by most Recommended. It wasn't until I reached the 14th most popular that I found one from someone who ACTUALLY LIVED in Georgia.
In the same vein as my previous comment about Beto O'Rourke: Georgians really want Stacey Abrams as their governor. If you don't believe it, just ask somebody who doesn't live there.
6
Or maybe the majority of Georgians that want Stacy don’t read the NYT
5
I live in Atlanta and want Stacey Abrams as my governor. If you don't believe Georgians want Abrams, just ask the other 1,910,394 who voted for her--and the other tens of thousands who tried, but whose ballots were thrown out for missing hyphens or middle initials.
17
@Connecticut Yankee
I am a Georgia resident who would prefer that NEITHER candidate serve as governor. However, as was my civic duty, I voted for the candidate that I believe will most effectively serve the majority of Georgians. I voted for Kemp as I disagree with fewer of his political positions than those of Abrams.
I live in Georgia and can honestly say that kemp is the definition of any empty suit. a good old boy living off his family. just like his hero trump, he is not up for the job...
24
"I have counted the votes and confidently declare that I have won." OK, good enough for me!
7
Keep counting until the Democrat wins. That's Democracy to to a progressive in America today.
2
@Hank Thomas
It's better than the Republican position of "Don't count because a Democrat might win."
21
@Hank Thomas
Good one Hank!
1
@Jordan
I would have said "...than the regressive position..." but, yeah.
2
A major point of clarification: The mail for Albany and other portions of SW GA has been going thru Tallahassee for at least 4 years. No big whoop. It was NOT just recently re-routed due to Hurricane Michael.
And, while Michael did hit South GA quite hard, the area's power and mail infrastructure have been back on track for weeks. All that to say that there is no cause for concern for provisional ballots from this area. Just a scare tactic......
Imagine if you will: Kemp is a Democrat. He blatantly blocks voters using an illegal, and federal court rejected, "law" to suppress minority votes. Then he claims that its actually the Republicans who have somehow hacked into the voting system giving his opponent an edge in the election which he claims he won. Then he will neither step down nor reveal the actual number of uncounted votes, declaring himself the winner no matter what. Yeah....it doesnt look right when we turn it around does it? They need to appoint an independent committee to step in and count the votes or we are heading towards a chad-riffic conclusion in the GA state supreme court
11
I sent posts weeks ago on the issue of Kemp being Georgia's Secretary of State with oversight responsibilities while at the same time being a candidate.
The blame lies with 'our stars' but with Stacy Abrams, her campaign manager and advisory staff. Now, with the election over, the fairy dust has lifted and their eyes have opened to kemp's manipulation of the voter registration process and the all too apparent conflict of interest which should have made its way to Court long ago.
Abrams is an attorney. She failed to make an effective move at the get-go "Now" is too late to demand a recount or play the race card when it seems clear that she lacks the kind of sharp political instincts and experience needed to be an effective governor.
Ms. Abrams capitalized on all the good that would come of her being the "First woman to serve as governor as well as the 'First black woman to serve as governor." Had she been elected, why then, yes, a feel good idea becomes fact.
But, in running on 'how good it would be to be the first this and the first that' and making it the cornerstone of her campaign, she had the cart before the horse while all the while ignoring the driver.
Ms Abrams needed to be on 'top of a dangerous situation' and the truth is - she wasn't. Case closed.
@Miriam summ The Abrams campaign was fighting Kemp as Secretary of State all along. They fought the rejection of voter registrations. She has been fighting for years in the Georgia legislature how you. come to the conclusions you do is bewildering. She was well respected among her Republican state legislators. It is hard to be on top of the system when the system is rigged.
Mr. Kemp belongs in prison for election fraud.
11
Kemp rigged the voting machines, many of which switched the voters' choice from Democratic to Republican. Why this is not the leading national story is beyond me.
12
@Casey Penk
Probably because that's absolutely nuts. Why are Democrats such crybabies when they lose?
2
@Casey Penk Can you share evidence of this? I haven't seen anything coming out of GA pointing to this. His voter suppression and disenfranchisement is a well-known thing, but I'm not sure his office is actually capable of hacking anything on that level.
7
@AZPurdue have you listened to Trump lately he’s crying screaming calling everyone liars.... I really don’t understand how everyone could vote for Trump. He would not know the truth if it ran over him, hardly anything he says is the truth, even basic easy to verify stuff.
Really amazing he’s setting your country back decades. Unfortunately your children will have to pay the price and it will be huge.
1
Brian Kemp is a known scoundrel who blatantly and brazenly has used his office of Sec. of State, to cheat under the guise of voting laws. He's been caught with his hands in the cookie jar (in this case the ballot box) on numerous occasions, but the republican rule in this state looks the other way. His deputy SOS is just as bad and has provided additional cover.
Not unlike trump, they think they are the law. So far they've not been challenged. I am giving an additional $$ to Ms. Abrams to fight this. If he gets away with stealing the election, like Dubya and others of question including the current occupant of the oval, it'll be standard procedure in the future.
15
Brian 'Jim Crow' Kemp
Add in voter ID suppression, voter file purges, long poll lines, not enough voting machines and good old boy corruption, and what we have is theft of the Georgia governorship by a neo-Confederate and massive civil rights violations by Kemp's corruption.
What a disgrace fake democracy.
25
Talk about not respecting democracy, she lost the election just get over it. There is a deadline to vote and a deadline to send your mail-in ballot.
4
Yes, Zach Thomas, just sweep all of Brian Kemp's pre-election Jim Crow tactics under the rug and move.
No good ole' boy corruption to see here.
The corrupt white guy won 'fair and square'.
19
@Zach Thomas
True! Rules about when to vote, about how/when to count the votes, whether to have a run-off or not, etc. etc.
So many rules! Let's just follow the first one and forget all the rest.
4
@Zach Thomas Yes, the postmark deadline to send in the mail-in ballots was November 6. Several thousand absentee ballots that met that deadline have not yet been received, opened, or counted!
9
One more clue that a whole lot of Republicans are crooks.
Just like their boss in Washington, the embracing Don.
12
We don't know whether or not Ms Abrams has won the election, but we do know that Kemp is a cheat. Every last vote and machine should be audited.
42
Kemp resigned as Secretary of State a few hours ago. That means the votes aren't there and he's making the transition to governor. He was leading by 60,000 votes. I know this is a disappointing result for Abrams & her supporters. I'm sure there will be some legal wrangling going forward. But eventually Abrams needs to simply accept her loss, close as it is. She ran a good campaign. ALL of these races are very close. Stacey Abrams is an intelligent hard working politician with a bright future. But not as Georgia's next Governor. She was too far to the left for these voters. This state has been solidly Republican since 2002. The current GOP governor Nathan Deal won his 2014 race 53%-45%. It was only this close because Kemp is a terrible divisive candidate. Georgia's electorate is composed mostly of solid Democrats & solid Republicans, with very few persuadable voters. Lets set aside the challenges of a black woman being elected governor anywhere in America, particularly in the South. Lets also set aside the insanity of running a Progressive in a state where the last Democratic contender Jason Carter a liberal lost by 7.9%. The math was against Abrams. To win she needed white liberals in the state turning out at higher rates than white conservatives. That isn't going to happen & hasn't happened in the past 16 years. Mathematically it's impossible. White liberals are on the endangered species list in Georgia. Democrats can definitely win here but only if they run as a moderate.
3
@Bill Brown She wasn't "too far to the left." In fact her record in the state legislature was very bipartisan, reaching across the aisle. She's black, and Georgia is full of racists, now more outspoken than ever. The rhetoric of "too extreme" and "too far to the left" was utilized--to great (and disappointing) success by the Kemp campaign as a cover-up for blatant racism.
9
@Bill Brown if the last "white liberal" lost by 7.9% and Abrams (i guess you'd call her a white liberal?), who is too far left in your view, is losing by less than half a percentage point, how exactly would that show "white liberals" being an endangered species in Ga.?
sounds like trump u math...
4
@SSnow Answering all comments. To Abrams credit she registered more voters and energized the base. But the bottom line it still wasn't enough to beat Kemp one of the worst and most divisive Republican candidates to run in the past 20 years. If she had run against Nathan Deal the current governor she would have lost by a landslide. I worked in Georgia for over 30 years. This is a red state. They're not going to elect a progressive governor. A moderate Democrat will have a better chance.
“Peach state voters made a clear decision at the ballot box” states Cody Hall, a Kemp spokesman.
Yes, they clearly did; they are OK with a historically unprecedented corrupt voting process. Kemp, the Secretary of State, did everything in his power to suppress votes, and at the last minute blame Democrat’s for hacking after they brought to light software vulnerabilities that were years old, and that Kemp was negligent in fixing.
17
Stay strong Stacey and make them count every single vote they are trying to throw away. We are so very proud of you. Georgia needs you.
30
It's not who votes it's who counts the votes...
Who said that, Stalin? He was a Georgian of a different stripe.
18
@Duncan not that different maybe...
1
Georgia is slowly changing. The unsavory activity of Kemp's Georgia Republicans can't stem that tide. If there is any intelligent leadership left in the Republican Party, surely it must see that.
If Kemp is elected, he'll continue voting restrictions. At some point there will be nothing left for him to do. Georgia Republicans will be run over.
13
Good People of Georgia, put Kemp under citizen's arrest for abuse of power and file a massive CIVIL lawsuit.
His kind of corrupt cheating must not stand in OUR United States of America.
Not now. Not ever again.
13
@njglea We would, but he's got bodyguards. And really high fences.
But we'll file that lawsuit. No question.
9
How do you steal an election?
Keep it close and count the votes yourself.
28
I find it fascinating that the loser of the election refuses to concede, is apparently insistent upon an electoral "re-do," and is somehow painted as the one fighting for a "fair election."
8
They are still counting votes. Kemp purged over 700,000 voter registrations in the past year and a half alone. Half of them are contested. IF there is a "loser" in this election, it was never fair to begin with. @Jon
15
I actually found fascinating the fact that one of the competitor is allowed to oversee the vote count. Too much of temptation in my view.
9
Have to chuckle.....over half of the voting machines in cobb and surrounding counties were in warehouses......put there by a Democratic Federal Judge.....lol
6
@Silence
They were put there because they kept counting Abram's votes for Kemp.
3
@Silence
The Court may order the number of voting machines needed, but they are not delivery men scouring the area for placement. Let's see, twenty in the warehouse, and fifty at the docks. And thirty more in the Mall.
Can you document what you say? If not, 'Silence' would be golden.
1
I am genuinely confused, how is it possible to oversee an election in which you are a candidate and have the end result seen as fair and correct? It's a complete conflict of interest and unethical, how is it allowed? Surely it should be mandatory that he recuse himself from the role while the election that he's running in is on.
45
@Newmann1
Exactly how our President would have handled it.
11
@Newmann1 utter disregard of ethics. Basically gop playbook.
12
This type of thing works very well in third world countries led by dictators. Perhaps independent vote watchers need to come to Georgia. The rooster is allowing the hens eggs to be counted and the rooster does not want too many eggs to be viable.
19
Watch as Kemp pulls out all his dirty tricks for the win. The fix is already in.
11
"Claim of victory"?
If she were ahead by the exact same amount, you wouldn't report it as a claim. You'd be dancing in the streets celebrating her victory.
And it was supposed to be Trump who refuses to accept the outcomes of elections? Good one, hypocrites!
6
@JND
It hasn't been officially settled yet, but from past experience men in my state do this too, claim victory only to lose in the end when the votes are counted. Hanging chads another example of theft at elections.
3
of course that she didn't overseen the count, so we could be sure the count is correct.
1
The courts should toss this entire election out and force Kemp to resign as Sec of State. This election was a choke even before it began.
23
How’s come it’s always “stealing” when the liberal candidate loses a close election?
8
@Larry because there's a long history of voter suppression tactics in this country, especially in the south. Very often elections are "stolen" (air quotes intended) because while there are legal work arounds to everything that happens, it's done in an unethical manner.
Simple fact of the matter is this; there's a very good reason why Republican controlled legislations across the country seek to make voting harder for citizens. The fewer people who vote, the more likely they are to win.
15
Maybe, because Kemp has the motive and opportunity. Why should we trust him when he was so insistent to oversee the count?
3
He won, she lost...move on.
6
I am sure after recount she will do. What is harm in the recount if there is such confidence in the win?
5
You lost, get over it. Have some dignity and respect for the political process.
6
@Robb "Dignity and respect" for the political process would be Kemp recusing himself from overseeing the election to begin with.
58
Political process?? That is not what it is called when the person running is also overseeing the results@Robb
22
How much should we respect the crooked political process where one candidate oversees the vote count. How can we be sure he didn't count it to his benefit?
1
I live in Gwinnett county (a county in the suburbs of Atlanta), and I ask the NYT to please keep an eye for this race. Please investigate and show the power of an independent media.
As anyone with eyes to see, demographic change is real - the suburbs are growing with people of different colors, and white liberal folks that work in Atlanta but are attracted to the good schools and lower home prices of the suburbs.
Coincidentally, these were the suburbs where election officials had surprising incompetent mistakes as reported by VOX and others such as forgetting to bring cables to the machines (which ran out of power!); lack of sufficient polling machines; long lines (upward of 4hrs!) being formed in polling stations.
To note, Mr. Kemp declared victory at the same time the national stage was being convoluted by yet another manufactured crisis by the President (the firing of Mr. Sessions).
There is clearly a segment of the party in power in GA that believes in containing the tide with a broom, that believes not in democracy but in winning at all costs. While they can.
Please, NYT, go an interview the poll workers, the election county committees. Make sure there is nothing to report - or report it.
85
@MS - I agree whole heartedly. I live in conservative rural north Georgia in staunchly republican/Trump territory. We had about 8 machines, all working flawlessly, wait time was 45 minutes. My best friend lives in the suburbs of Atlanta in a much more populous area than myself. She said they were shorted at least 5 machines over what they normally have. Wait times were hours. The daughter of a friend cast an absentee ballot from out of state (she is a college student). Her ballot was rejected with no reason given. She had to request a new one two weeks before the election and did not receive it until 2:30 on Monday the 6th. Had to get it filled out, postmarked and sent in less than 24 hours. Shadiness everywhere!!
11
@Jennifer I'm for Stacey and welcome your argument but wish you had reported the number of voting machines available in the Atlanta suburb. The root point is that there should be enough machines in every location to every voters to timely vote. I get the gist from the long Atlanta line, but real data - the number of registered voters in a precinct and the number of available machines - would be the concrete evidence we need in order to manage our elections better.
Kemp was and is a dishonorable man. That he was even the GOPs choice is disgusting. He's a proven liar, guaranteed a $500,000 loan that he has defaulted on, is a racist who has done everything he can to control who votes.
Stacey Abrams should not concede. Years ago Al Gore conceded for the good of the country. Those days are gone. The GOP? Tax relief for the wealthy, healthcare denied, unending wars, racist gerrymandering, Merrick Garland. It's us against them.
45
I so wish Al Gore had done the same.
17
As someone who remembers the 67 Democratic Convention, I know exactly what we as students would have done back then. If there is any doubt about votes that were cast, they should demand quite loudly that their votes be counted! Take to the streets folks!
9
Stacey Abrams should NOT concede until we know for certain that all votes have been counted, and all eligible voters were allowed to vote. Kemp did everything in his power (literally) to suppress votes, better known as cheating. He will not appear to be the legitimate winner if this is not straightened out.
34
Former President Jimmy Carter should send in his experienced Carter Center election officials to ensure fairness. This is not unlike the elections his group monitors in foreign countries led by dictators.
57
Here's what the 538 website says:
"the Abrams campaign has refused to concede, but she would need to NET more than 25,000 votes in order to deny Kemp a majority. We don’t know how many votes have yet to be counted, but … that’s a lot." (emphasis added)
We are now seeing what kind of character Abrams has. It's not admirable.
10
@Cynical Jack
Abrams’ character is not admirable? I absolutely disagree. Why should she concede to a man — Kemp — who attempted and partially succeeded in preventing voters from exercising their lawful rights? Indeed, he may have destroyed provisional and absentee ballots. Kemp demonstrates contempt for free and open elections.
Stacey Abrams should use every legal means available to contest Kemp. Democracy is at stake.
It is Kemp’s character you should be questioning.
28
How is it poor character to insist that all votes be counted?
34
@Cynical Jack
"We are now seeing what kind of character Abrams has."
Of course it's all about character. It will also be all about character for Democrats when Trump declares in January that he has won a second term and we don't need the 2020 elections.
Have some character Democrats! Give the elections to Republicans!
4
It is too bad you chose to write "Mr. Kemp, who is white and bragged that he would round up “criminal illegals” in his campaign ads, might be acting to disenfranchise people of color."
How can 'criminal illegals' become a racist phrase? It is not. Facilitating the rounding up of illegal criminal elements is a solemn duty of any elected public official.
I immigrated to this country- legally, making sure that I followed law each step of the way. Stood in line with merit and became a citizen by learning the language, learning about American Government and embracing the culture. Never, ever would I seek handouts or tolerates parasites who thrive by bilking the hard-earned money of legal immigrants. Also, I have news for you- there are criminals among illegal immigrants. Come to California to see them in droves.
Mr. Kemp as well as Mr. Trump are always talking about illegal criminal aliens. This is not a racist statement whatsoever. People like Ms. Stacey Abrams who intentionally twist carefully chosen phrase of illegal aliens and the black reporter who tried to interject race into Trump's press conference are racists.
It is time to call them out as such in public.
15
@Appu Nair You say these things as if you won't be one of the first rounded up because of the color of your skin and your foreign birth when these people you are defending finally gain the power to do what they really want. Just because you came here legally will not make racists and nationalist hate you less. They don't think any brown people should be here at all and that only white people should be allowed to immigrate. "I was not an undocumented immigrant so when they came for the undocumented immigrants, I said nothing..."
13
This opinion is not held by most California voters I can assure you. Treating others as chattel smells of trumpian xenophobia.
4
@Appu Nair
Um..."you chose to write"? Here's the full quote from the article. I've highlighted the section that you left out.
MR. POUNDS SAID that it was difficult not to consider that Mr. Kemp, who is white and bragged that he would round up “criminal illegals” in his campaign ads, might be acting to disenfranchise people of color.
Remember Appu...we need to hear from ALL people in this country. Georgia is not made up entirely of Trump supporters.
4
Honestly, this is like having Republican President Donald Trump overseeing the Russian investigation...
22
"The people who vote decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."
--Joseph Stalin
Kemp had learned this lesson well.
68
Acrimonious? Kemp is doing every single thing in his power to steal this election and your headline reads like another “both sides” story. This is ridiculous. You’re the paper of record. Start calling it like it is.
26
For voters to regain trust in our electoral system, candidates (of any party) must not be allowed to oversee their own elections. There's too much opportunity for fraud, and even if no fraud occurs, the appearance that it *can* easily occur is too damaging. All Americans should agree that laws enhancing voter engagement and trust in the system are good for our democracy. But I fear that the GOP, which traditionally does not attract disenfranchised people (who are more likely to feel powerless and voiceless), doesn't care much about this effort. I'd love to be proven wrong.
11
Is the Georgia race another reason Trump fired Sessions - because he couldn't trust him to side with Kemp in an election investigation?
6
Mr.Kemp's refusal to recuse himself from the job of overseeing an election in which he was a candidate was a red flag.Anyone could have done the job but he would not give it up just in case he needed to manipulate the election and its results.Well before the voting there were questions about "matched registrations".Georgia needs to take ballot counting seriously, the Kemp shenanigans reflect badly on their state and its ability to run a fair election.
40
Kemp is the epitome of the Trump Republican Party. Kemp should have resigned his position on the Election Board. It is the height of impropriety to oversee your own election.
Stacey Abrams must stand strong and not concede until EVERY VOTE is counted.
25
I thought kemp shredded those provisionals. It’s his nature.
9
Not only is Kemp's refusal to recuse himself from running a state election in which he is a candidate "banana republic stuff" as one reader has pointed out, there is little recourse for those who would protest his stance and similar actions by officials elsewhere, since the federal courts are increasingly weighted with Republican appointees.
We also hear that in the interests of "economy" many Georgia polling places used primarily by minority voters were closed, forcing voters to travel long distances and wait in unreasonably long lines, often to have their identity and right to vote challenged. What recourse do they have?
The situation in North Dakota, though not identical, is related. Thousands of voters without a fixed street address--mainly homeless people and Native Americans--were disenfranchised and the courts essentially ruled that this denial of rights affected too few people to matter.
Clearly we are well on the way to a totalitarian state should Trump be re-elected. It certainly CAN happen here.
28
Voter suppression and election fraud have always played a role in Southern politics. It's only of late being noticed more. Its no secret its done in order to keep the top officeholders in government white. Kemp's refusal to recluse himself from overseeing his own election has been a red flag all along but when some of his suppression tactics were exposed it was clear he was planning to win using whatever means necessary. Too much that happens in the South has gone unquestioned for too long. It's amazing that more than 150 years since the Civil War and 60 years after the passing of major civil rights legislation elements of deeply entrenched bigotry thrive. One would have thought that the coming of age of the MTV generation would have changed the Southern narrative. But then Trump got elected and sleeper cells started emerging. They'll have us singing Dixie yet!
13
there were fewer than 25,000 ballots left to be counted in the race, 22,000 of them provisional ballots.
AND KEMP REMOVED OVER 35,000 PEOPLE FROM THE VOTING ROLLS.
56
@matty
And managed the election so poorly that thousands of people were reported to have left various polling places throughout the day because voting machines didn't work, weren't plugged in, etc. etc.
10
@matty Oh, it's much worse. He removed over 700,000 people from the rolls in the past year and a half ALONE. Why this is not major news, and only local GA news in ATL is always surprising to me. https://www.ajc.com/news/local-govt--politics/georgia-cancels-fewer-voter-registrations-after-surge-last-year/fqT1bcSzGu33UEpTMDzMVK/
4
Good for you Stacey Abrams. I always wonder why Al Gore didn't show this kind of gumption. For future Democratic candidates: Don't bow out supposedly for the good of the country from any election be it dogcatcher or President until every vote is fairly counted. Have some spine. Be uncomfortable. Fight.
114
More power to Stacey. Had these election shenanigans happened in any other country, The US State Department would have decried the results and the process. And yet in a US state, the guy administering the election is also one of the candidates. And there have been reports of massive voter suppression / fraud.
Stacey Abrams and team need to file multiple lawsuits to investigate this with the support of the House Democrats. Play fire with fire.
106
I've never understood the rush to proclaim victory and demand concession in these tight elections. Just count the votes. Mr. Kemp. If there is no clear path to victory for Ms. Abrams, the vote tally will bear that out.
42
@McKlem
I would like to click on "recommend" more than once! Kemp's assertion that he is the winner is a pressure tactic. Thankfully Stacey Abrams has the backbone to stand up to him.
Sooner or later, the truth will come out. Be gracious, Kemp.
4
Most Georgians are not wondering who won the governor's race. But they are mystified that a state this large and this diverse cannot field two candidates for state's top job who are better qualified that Ms. Abrams or Mr. Kemp. Abrams, despite making $500,000 over a two-year period, cannot pay her federal taxes -- she is on a tax payment plan, according to the NYT. And Mr. Kemp apparently sees no problem in overseeing a controversial election where he is a contender. Abrams raises most of her campaign money out of state and refuses to identify her donors. Kemp traffics in the divisive language of the president. Surely Georgia can do better than either of these two.
7
@Jabo. Kemp reneged on $500,000 loan, used a bank he co-founded as an ATM to the tune of $$800,000, and collected over a million dollars of subsidies despite opposing President Obama’s stimulus package. Abrams is paying her taxes. She is the fiscally responsible choice and hopefully, we will get another chance to make it.
38
@Jeanne huttonMy point exactly. They are both rotten political material. And I beg to differ, but anyone who makes $500,000 in two years and does not use it to pay back-taxes is not fiscally responsible.
2
@John Jabo I agree and voted for neither of them but cast a write in ballot. I'm surprised Abrams received as many votes as she did. Over the last 20 years Georgia leans red and Abrams was far left of center.
1
Overseeing the election in which you are running is plainly and blatantly unethical. But, these days in America, so many government functions are. Not only unethical, government is also an ugly power grab. Overseeing your own election put in sports terms so often the "explainer" in America, imagine the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons also being the referee for offsides and holding or the pitcher for the Atlanta Braves also being the umpire for calling balls, strikes, and outs. Then again, maybe in Georgia, no one would blink.
53
@RobT Are you serious. We did more than blink. There have been repeated calls, and demands for Kemp to step down, but he simply ignored those calls and carried out what has all the makings of a rigged election.
Those of us who strongly supported Stacey Abrams are very disheartened and disgusted by the actions of her incompetent and corrupt opponent.
9
The fox is guarding the hen house. Sounds like a bad idea.
As the demography in Georgia (and the rest of the country) becomes more diverse (more minority), it has become apparent to the Republicans that their control of government is waning. So they are trying Plan B: If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em.
It is time for organization that are looking for places to hold their conventions (or have already committed), to look elsewhere than Georgia.
77
Mr. Kemp's egregious behavior shadows this president.
And that is why it is so important for Ms. Adams to prevail against Mr. Kemp clear abuse of power and his more than likely fraudulent schemes to 'steal' the Governorship.
51
In the names of Chaney, Goodman, Schwerner, Viola Luizzo and so many others who died fighting for the right of all Americans regardless of colour to vote, I hope Stacey Abrams stands firm and is victorious in her bid to become the next governor of Georgia. Her demand that each and every vote be fairly tallied, is completely justified given Kemps history of voter suppression and the egregious conflict of interest of being both a candidate and overseer of the election that was allowed to exist....What’s with that America in 2018?! The whole world is watching. From Canada, we're cheering for you Stacey!
175
The fact that Kemp did not, and still will not, recuse himself from overseeing an election in which he was a candidate makes this entire thing a farce.
Seriously. This is banana-republic stuff.
187
@TC
ONCE AGAIN:
A BANANA REPUBLIC refers to certain Central American dictatorships whose economies were underwritten by ONE cash crop, bananas, and who gave ultimate authority to the corporation responsible for protecting the plantations and producing the fruit.
There were no elections in these dictatorships. That's why they were DICTATORSHIPS.
The American economy is way too diversified to devolve into a one-cash-crop economy.
4
It would be great if these people that use terms like banana Republics, fascists, nazis, etc in casual discourse would study up on history and understand more before drawing on these false comparisons.
4
Even dictatorships sometimes have sham elections, hence banana REPUBLIC. A republic in name only.
That's what America has descended to under Republican rule, the "Law and Order" party. Entry single American should denounce such tactics, not only when it's their candidate who suffers from it.
Never thought I'd see the day when American electrons would need UN inspectors.
30