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As election day left its way into the early hours of Wednesday, the deadly and often harsh race to become Georgia's next governor continued to defy a ready resolution. With almost all votes counted, Georgian Secretary of State Brian Kemp had a slim lead, but his provocative Democrat challenger, former US representative Stacey Abrams, promised to continue in the hope of a second round.
The state election rules require that a candidate gets a majority to win the governorship. If neither candidate wins more than 50% – and with libertarian Ted Metz also on Tuesday's ballot, this remains a possibility – Kemp and Abrams are expected to fight again in a new round of voting.
"Tonight we have narrowed the gap between yesterday and tomorrow, but we still have a few miles to go," said Abrams, who aims to become the first African-American female governor in the history of the United States. -United.
She spoke to her supporters early Wednesday morning in a speech much more characteristic of a campaign than a grant.
"We think our chance for a stronger Georgia is within reach, but we can not grasp it until all the voices are heard," she added. "And I promise you tonight that we will make sure every vote is counted, every vote."
This new push could open a new chapter in a race tainted with controversy and confusion for months, largely because of the continuing role of Kemp's state secretary.
In that position, he acted as the official referee in the same election, challenging calls from Abrams and other people – including former president Jimmy Carter – to resign from his position during the campaign.
He was severely criticized for massively serving Georgian electoral lists several months after his nomination for governorship, as well as delays in tens of thousands of voter registration applications.
Kemp has defended these moves as merely complying with strict state protocols for voter registration. He rejected criticism of his conduct, described as "publicity stunt" by his political opponents.
In the final days of the race, while held on polling day, Kemp announced that his office had opened an investigation into the "potential cybercrimes" of state democrats. He provided no evidence to support his claims, which led the Democrats to call this measure "an imprudent and unethical ploy".
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, seen earlier this year after winning the GOP primaries.
Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
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Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, seen earlier this year after winning the GOP primaries.
Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
On polling day, voters in Georgia complained about the status of some polling stations. Some voters waited about five hours to vote, and Asia Burns of Atlanta's WABE member station reported that others were complaining about electoral equipment issues.
"Problems with voting machines have been reported in at least five polling stations in the Greater Atlanta area," Burns said. "The state's voting machines are 15 years old and use a variant of the Windows 2000 operating system that is no longer supported by Microsoft."
Some voters would have been always online at 11 pm – in other words, hours after the closure of the Georgian polls had been scheduled at the start. At 2:30 pm on Wednesday, the two candidates were separated by less than 10,000 votes, and the Associated Press refrained from showing a winner.
Addressing his supporters on Wednesday morning, Kemp said: "The calculation is on our side to win this election".
"We are waiting for the final results, but I am confident that the victory is near."
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