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Former President Jimmy Carter has devoted much of his post-presidential life to observing overseas elections. He is asking GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp to step down from his position as Georgia's Secretary of State "to ensure the confidence of our citizens."
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Former President Jimmy Carter has devoted much of his post-presidential life to observing overseas elections. He is asking GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp to step down from his position as Georgia's Secretary of State "to ensure the confidence of our citizens."
Scott Cunningham / Getty Images
Former President Jimmy Carter has personally urged the Republican candidate for governor in Georgia to resign from his position overseeing the state's elections. Carter lodged his appeal to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp in a letter dated last Monday and first by The Associated Press.
The contents of the letter were confirmed by the spokesperson for the Carter Center, the former president of the world.
In his letter to Kemp, Carter said it was his decades of experience assisting elections that persuaded him to wade into the bitter dispute over the Georgia gubernatorial race. Kemp has been under fire for deciding to purge tens of thousands of voters rolls – months after declaring his intention to run for governor.
"In Georgia's upcoming election gubernatorial, popular confidence is only one of the dangers of racial discrimination in the past and the question of the question of Georgia You are a candidate, "wrote Carter, who served as Democratic Governor of Georgia in September 1976.
"This runs counter to the most fundamental principle of democratic elections – that the electoral process is managed by an independent and impartial election authority."
Kemp's role in both elections and elections – and last year's vote Kemp embroiled in controversy.
An APM Reports investigation found that Kemp's tenure overseeing Georgia's election process. More than 1.6 million names were removed from the state's rolls in the past decade, including his eight years in office.
And a half-dozen civil rights groups recently sued the secretary of state over the delay of some 53,000 vote registration applications, which his office has placed on hold citing questions about the applicants' citizenship status. According to the AP, nearly 70 percent of those pending registrations came from African-Americans.
Kemp's Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, is seeking to become the first woman governor in U.S. history.
"This protocol will continue to have a discriminatory impact on African-American, Latino and Asian-American applicants," the groups allegedly in their complaint, "and will continue to impose severe burdens on voting-eligible Georgians' fundamental right to vote not justified by any rational or compelling state interest. "
Kemp, for his part, has denied wrongdoing, and he has dismissed the situation.
He says his office is well known for "accurate match," which requires that information be provided to him or her by the applicant's social security and driving records. Errors such as misspellings or the use of nicknames can result in the last year.
After the lawsuit was filed, his spokesman rejected the allegations as "a public push for illegal immigrants to choose the next governor of Georgia."
Secretary of State Brian Kemp declares victory in July after winning the GOP nomination for governor.
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Secretary of State Brian Kemp declares victory in July after winning the GOP nomination for governor.
Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
A federal district is set to hold an emergency hearing on Monday.
"The civil rights groups," Johnny Kauffman of Atlanta member station WABE explains.
Carter did not get too deep into his specifics in his brief personal appeal to Kemp. Rather, the former president has its argument as a broad plea to ensure the stability of Georgia's electoral process.
"In order to foster voting confidence in the election, which will be especially important if the election is over," Carter said.
"This would not address every concern, but it would be a sign that you recognize the importance of this key democratic principle and ensure the confidence of our citizens in the outcome."
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