In a Monday Medium post, the campaign manager for Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams accused the Georgia secretary of state's office of lying about the total number of votes still to be counted in the race between Abrams and GOP candidate Brian Kemp.
Lauren Groh-Wargo, the campaign manager, writes, "The Secretary of State office is lying about the number of votes cast, as well as the number of votes still to be counted. How do we know? We went to the counties directly to see the votes and count them for ourselves."
By the Abrams campaign's count, there are at least 33,350 uncounted votes currently. Provisional ballots make up 26,846 of that number; Groh-Wargo claims there are also at least 1,303 early votes, 2,674 mail ballots and 2,684 overseas military votes that still need tallying.
The Democratic campaign also claims they've found the uncounted votes just so happen to come from Georgia's bluest districts.
Although 33,000 votes might not sound like enough to sway an election, in this case, those votes could decide who becomes the Peach State's next governor.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kemp has a roughly 1.5 percent lead on Abrams, which translates to around 58,000 votes. However, Abrams needs just 21,000 votes to trigger a runoff election against her GOP nemesis. If Abrams receives 19,000 more votes would require a recount according to state law.
Abrams challenged the handling of Dougherty County's absentee ballots in court and won that suit, meaning ballots mailed past the official deadline in that county will still be counted. Groh-Wargo writes the campaign has "filed another lawsuit demanding that absentee and provisional ballots be counted" ahead of a Tuesday vote certification deadline. If the second lawsuit also results in a victory for the Abrams team, that deadline would be extended.
According to The Associated Press, several Black voters experienced trouble at Georgia's polls, including but not limited to long lines and polling sites with limited voting machines. Some believe these conditions may have suppressed turnout, with potential voters leaving before they had a chance to cast their ballots.
Saturday, the Kemp campaign called Abrams a "disgrace to democracy," and accused her of "making up numbers," according to USA Today.
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