Georgia County Mishandles Absentee Ballots – Stacey Abrams Fights Back

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Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams took the state’s election process to court. After all, Republican candidate Brian Kemp was not only in charge of overseeing the process, he was her opponent. One result of the lawsuit was jaw dropping.

Gwinnett County, Georgia violated the Civil Rights Act when it mishandled its absentee ballots after the midterm election closed. That meant there could be enough ballots to give Abrams a lead in this very close election. Not only that, the ballot counting will delay the overall results.

If Abrams should take the election, she would become the first black female governor in U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May wrote the decision noting that the county violated its residents’ Civil Rights. The county rejected absentee ballots strictly due to a person leaving off his or her birth year or adding it incorrectly.

According the order, the court rule that the county had to count these ballots in the 2018 midterm elections:

‘(Gwinnett County was) enjoined from rejecting absentee ballots containing an error or omission relating to the absentee voter’s year of birth.’

The court’s decision came right in the middle of the midterms and applied to a “narrow set of ballots:”

‘…many hotly contested and highly publicized elections issues across the State.’

If Abrams’ number of votes increases, she will be able to have a runoff election with Kemp. In the meantime, he has been moving himself into the governor’s digs.

The county has not yet declared the election.

Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.