The Georgia gubernatorial race is not over yet. Republican Brian Kemp is ahead by about 18,000, but Stacey Abrams's campaign is trying to take the contest to court, in unprecedented fashion.
Abrams’ campaign chairwoman Allegra Lawrence-Hardy said all options are on the table, including using a state law that has never before been attempted at this level of elections. They are filing a petition in the name of voter suppression.
Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, Abrams’ campaign chairwoman, is overseeing a team of almost three-dozen lawyers who in the coming days will draft the petition, along with a ream of affidavits from voters and would-be voters who say they were disenfranchised. Abrams would then decide whether to go to court under a provision of Georgia election law that allows losing candidates to challenge results based on “misconduct, fraud or irregularities ... sufficient to change or place in doubt the results.”
The legal team is “considering all options,” Lawrence-Hardy said, including federal court remedies. But the state challenge is the most drastic. And some Democratic legal observers note Abrams would be dependent on statutes that set a high bar for the court to intervene.
Kemp has declared victory, however, and recently resigned as secretary of state after complaints that his office should not be allowed to oversee elections. He said that was not entirely the reason he stepped aside, noting he wanted to "give public confidence to the certification process."
Kemp's 18,000-vote lead is enough to avoid a Dec. 4 runoff and state officials are preparing to officially declare him the winner. His campaign is accusing Abrams of staging a “publicity stunt” and a “ridiculous temper tantrum.”
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