Federal Judge delays certification of election results in Georgia, citing concerns over provisional vote

A federal judge has banned the Georgian secretary of state from immediately certifying the election results in order to allow more time to resolve the problems associated with thousands of provisional ballots that voters were forced to vote last week.

Tuesday is the deadline for the confirmation of the election results by the 159 Georgian counties, and the Secretary of State had planned to certify these results on Wednesday. US District Judge Amy Totenberg said Monday night that the Secretary of State could not certify the results before Friday and that he should "immediately establish and publish on its website a secure and free phone line for voters the provisional ballot. if their provisional ballots were counted and, if not, the reason. "

The decision in the Common Cause lawsuit still involves a few days of uncertainty about the race of the governor of Georgia, during which Democrat Stacey Abrams hopes to impose a second round on Republican Brian Kemp, who has 59,000 votes. Kemp, who resigned from his state secretary position at the end of last week and declared the victory, said that there were not enough votes outstanding for the ## 147 ## Prevent him from claiming his office.

"Today's decision is a victory for the voters of Georgia. We are all stronger when every eligible voter is allowed to participate in our elections, "said Sara Henderson, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, in a statement. "This victory helps build voter confidence in our elections."

Secretary of State Candice Broce's spokeswoman said, "The Secretary of State's office is reviewing the order and reviewing our options with legal counsel."

The Secretary of State's office announced that 21,190 provisional ballots had been cast in the November 6 election. The Abrams campaign has announced a figure of over 27,000. Voters receive provisional ballots if their entries are not on the electoral lists in their electoral district or if they do not have proper identification.

The lawsuit refers to the testimony of Chris Harvey, the state's Chief Electoral Officer, who says that only half of the votes cast will likely be counted because of problems.

Voters had until Friday to prove that they were duly registered or to prove their identity. The prosecution refers to electors who have stated that they have not received the appropriate information on how to repair their ballots.

Abrams itself has taken legal action to delay the certification of the results and to oblige election officials in two counties to stop refusing ballot papers with minor discrepancies and to accept the provisional ballots. Voters whose registration records have not been updated. reflect their new addresses. Abrams would need at least 21,000 additional votes to force a second round and a little more than 19,000 to start a recount.

The joint lawsuit raises concerns about the security of the state's voter registration database, an issue that has been raised more than once during Kemp's term, including the Sunday that preceded the elections. Kemp's office issued a press release accusing the Democratic Party of the state of "unsuccessful attempt" to hack the system. It turned out that activists were trying to warn the Secretary of State's office that the database was vulnerable to piracy.

Totenberg, who is also overseeing a lawsuit aimed at forcing the state to abandon its electronic voting machines in favor of paper ballots, said in a ruling on Monday that Common Cause had "a great chance to prove that the secretary had failed to maintain a reliable and secure system. The voter registration system has and will continue to result in the violation of voters' right to vote and to have their votes counted. "

She also rejected the Secretary of State's statement that it was necessary to postpone the date of accreditation because of the need to prepare a second round between the candidates for the post of secretary of state. State, none of them having collected more than 50% of the vote on 6 November. The law states that the secretary of state has 14 days after the election to certify itself, ie November 20.

Totenberg said that the Secretary of State's attempt to speed up the certification process "seems to suggest that the latter should waive his responsibility to confirm the accuracy of the results before the final certification, including the assessment of the question of certification. whether the serious issues of provisional vote counting have been dealt with in a consistent and appropriate manner ".

The right to vote was a major problem in the governor's race, in which Abrams, the former Democratic leader of the State House, hoped to be elected the country's first black female governor. Abrams and activists blamed Kemp for strong voter registration and identification laws.

Just before the elections, news was announced that 53,000 new voter registrations had been blocked, with identity documents on the forms not exactly matching motor vehicle or safety records. social. A judge ordered the officials to stop applying the law.

Kemp was also criticized for serving more than a million Georgian voters on their lists, because they had not voted in the previous election or because they had not voted in the polls. they were supposed to have moved. But many voters came forward to say that they had actually voted in previous elections and that they had tried several times to update their archives.