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ATLANTA – Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, continued on Wednesday hoping for a second round with Republican Brian Kemp, who saw his lead shrink a bit in one night, but was still leading with more than 50 % of votes, according to the president. to unofficial results.
Kemp was slightly above the 15,000 vote threshold to avoid a runoff, said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams Campaign Director, who estimates there are at least as many unsigned ballots in countries democratic tendency.
Earlier Wednesday, the election campaign estimated that there were at least 77,000 ballots outstanding, including the postal votes and the provisional votes cast on Tuesday. At 11 am, unofficial reports told Abrams behind Kemp with just over 67,000 votes.
"We are determined to keep counting every vote," Groh-Wargo said, adding that the legal team of the campaign was reviewing election laws in Georgia and continuing to gather information on the problems of some counties. polls Tuesday and the pending postal ballots still arriving.
In Fulton County, where some voters queued for up to three hours, sometimes because of an insufficient number of voting machines, WSB Channel 2 reported that 700 machines were in a warehouse because They had been sequestrated in the context of an ongoing lawsuit. .
In Dougherty County, which was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in southwestern Georgia, thousands of postal ballots were delayed due to the closure of the county offices during three days and mail delivered by Tallahassee. The Democratic Party of Georgia had asked Governor Nathan Deal (right) to extend Dougherty County's time to receive postal ballots, but did not get an answer.
Normally, the deadline for counties to certify their results on the Monday following the election will be extended to Tuesday due to the Federal Veterans Day.
Candice Broce, spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office, said Wednesday by e-mail: "The election results are not official until each country certifies its own results, sends these totals to the Secretary of State, and the latter certifies that the combined voting totals are accurate. Counties must certify the results of their elections no later than Tuesday, November 13 at 5 pm The Secretary of State's office must certify the results of the election no later than Monday, November 20. "
Under Georgian law, recounts can be initiated if the margin between candidates is less than 1%.
Groh-Wargo criticized Kemp, who resisted calls to step down as secretary of state while he ran for governor, for his mediocre job of helping counties cope with such problems. Abrams had also criticized Kemp throughout the campaign for lobbying – some of which had been stopped by the courts in the last two weeks – making the vote more difficult. She called him "the architect of electoral repression".
In the early morning of Wednesday, while his lead was close to 51%, Kemp told his fans during his election night that "the calculation is on our side" and that he hoped to win. Kemp's campaign did not respond to requests for comment later on Wednesday.
Abrams, addressing her supporters around 1:30 am, did not give in, but said she was expecting the race to take place in a second round. To voters who did not support her or who did not vote at all, she said, "You will have the chance to vote."
Sonam Vashi in Georgia contributed to this story.
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