Parties clash in Georgia over outstanding ballots in gov race

Georgia Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Kemp resigned as secretary of state on Thursday, declaring victory even as the outcome of the governor’s race remains in limbo.

Kemp, in a resignation letter to outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal, said he was stepping down from the office to focus on his transition work to the governor’s mansion.

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“I hereby tender my resignation as Georgia’s Secretary of State effective 11:59 a.m. on November 8, 2018 to focus on the transition to my gubernatorial administration,” Kemp wrote in the letter. “Serving as Secretary of State has been an honor. I look forward to serving as Georgia’s 83rd Governor and building on the success of your tenure as the leader of our state.”

The resignation comes amid a lawsuit from a handful of Georgia voters that sought to prevent Kemp from presiding over the gubernatorial election while he was also a candidate.

Kemp ended up the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election, but Democrat Stacey Abrams has not conceded and the Associated Press has not declared a winner. With 100 percent of precincts reporting on election night, Kemp led Abrams 50.3 percent to 48.7 percent. That lead has narrowed as more absentee and provisional ballots have been counted.

In Georgia, a candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright; otherwise there’s a runoff. Both Abrams’ and Kemp’s teams have been bracing for the possibility of a runoff.

Abrams, former President Jimmy Carter, and other critics of Kemp argue that he should have stepped down as secretary of state while he was running, to avoid effectively overseeing his own race.

Other prominent Democrats have continued to criticize Kemp. In a fundraising email to supporters on Wednesday, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said that Kemp “clearly abused his position as Georgia’s Secretary of State to engage in rampant voter suppression — creating confusion at the polls and removing more than 1 million voters from the rolls over the past few years.”

The Abrams campaign has maintained that there are enough outstanding votes to trigger a runoff, which would be on Dec. 4.

Since Tuesday’s election, Abrams’ campaign has activated its legal team and a “provisional ballot chase program” to make sure that all ballots are counted. The campaign has also advertised in African American and Latino media outlets in the state, to encourage voters to contact the Georgia Democratic Party’s voter protection hotline.