Stacey Abrams Campaign Calls On Brian Kemp To Resign As Georgia's Election Chief
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Stacey Abrams Campaign Calls On Brian Kemp To Resign As Georgia's Election Chief
The campaign of Stacey Abrams , the Democratic candidate in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, reportedly urged her opponent, Brian Kemp, to resign as Georgia secretary of state on Thursday following a report that his office had frozen more than 53,000 voter registrations , many of them belonging to African-Americans.
“As he has done for years, Brian Kemp is maliciously wielding the power of his office to suppress the vote for political gain and silence the voices of thousands of eligible voters ― the majority of them people of color,” Abrams spokeswoman Abigail Collazo told CNN in a statement, adding that Kemp should step down “so that Georgia voters can have confidence that their Secretary of State competently and impartially oversee this election.”
A spokesperson for Abrams did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. While Abrams herself has not issued a statement, she tweeted Wednesday that “Kemp has called us out. Let’s vote & let’s get it done!”
Kemp, who has served as Georgia secretary of state since 2010, ignored a request from Georgia activist groups to resign earlier this year.
The Associated Press on Wednesday first reported that tens of thousands of voter registrations had been put on hold because they failed a controversial state policy that requires an “exact match” between identification documents and registration forms. A small error, including typos or a missing hyphen, can result in an application freeze, and the registrants are added to a “suspense list.”
While Georgia’s population is 32 percent black, 70 percent of the holds had been placed on black voters’ registrations, the AP said.
According to Kemp, the 53,000 people whose voter registrations have been frozen will still be able to vote in November’s midterm elections. He says affected individuals with an acceptable form of ID can address whatever issues there are with their registrations at election sites next month, or else, they can cast provisional ballots.
Georgia’s deadline to register to vote was on Tuesday.
“The fact is that it has never been easier to register to vote and get engaged in the electoral process in Georgia, and we are incredibly proud to report this new record,” Kemp said in a statement to CNN.
Kemp, who is running as the Republican nominee for governor, oversees the state’s voter rolls and has systematically canceled more than 1.4 million registrations since 2012, according to the AP, including more than 670,000 last year.
Kemp has vehemently denied purging the voter rolls of people of color, saying the state’s policy amounts to routine roll maintenance. He also accused Abrams of manufacturing “outrage off a ‘problem’ she created.”
“She uses fear to fundraise and liberal billionaires continue to bankroll her corrupt enterprise,” he tweeted, calling his opponent “incredibly dishonest.”
Abrams is the first African-American women to be nominated by a major political party to run for state governor. Polls show the two candidates in a fiercely competitive race to replace Republican Nathan Deal.
- This article originally appeared on HuffPost .
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Meh, I'm still undecided at this point. I know Ga has some strict voting. My license was expired by a few days in the last election we had (the runoff) and they wouldn't let me use it. I had my college ID and even then they had to consult with a few other people before allowing me to vote. I know there was an issue with a few polling places closing in one county because the county couldn't afford to keep them open (the county is bankrupt). I'm glad the citizens are still able to vote. Honestly, I think Kemp should have resigned from his SoS position if he was going to run for Governor, it really seems like a conflict of interest at this point. Ms. Abrams has her issues as well, neither one is pure and it puts me and many other Georgians at an 11th hour vote..... I prolly won't know who I'm voting for until I get to my poling place.
On another note, my daughter just turned 18 and just registered to vote 2 days ago! She's a huge feminist liberal and she is voting for Abrams. Shes in the camp of "voting for her because shes a woman", It aggravates me because she won't even research the candidates. Shes young and gets her "news" from IG memes LOL. Honestly, IDC who she votes for, she's her own person and I'm proud of her regardless.
Kemp can't step down or resign. He's a big GOPER with the Stars and Bars tattooed on his arse.
A black woman running against a white supremacist that certifies the state election. What could go wrong?
How many times per day did this happen, on average?
The Antebellum dynasty is dying a slow death. It will not go easily and it will inflict suffering on as many as it can until it is finally expired.
Kemp is not alone but their numbers are dwindling.
Just received a voter validation letter last week that had someones name registered to my address that I know for a fact hasn't lived at this address since prior to 2003 because I know the last tenants name, and I moved in in 2004 and bought the house in 2005. Maybe updating the Voter Rolls isn't such a bad thing after all...
That's how it's done in states with vote by mail elections. The last residents obviously didn't update their voter registrations. The issue is purposely selecting specific demographics for purging voters and the closing or manipulation of access to polling places to increase waiting times to vote. For those that insist on voter ID laws, access to any specialized ID's should be made available free at polling places up to and on the day of election at the expense of the state. Free and fair elections are the cornerstone to our government and people and organizations that inhibit the process should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I personally think that any voter oppression violations by any elected official should be prosecuted and subjected to the death penalty for treason as an example to others. But that's just me, since I believe that defeated confederate white supremacists belong better under America other than on top of it.
Awesome! Considering they are all dead, I would say you got your wish. Of course the Yankee invaders are dead too...you know the ones that STILL owned slaves AFTER the Civil War ended?
BTW, have you kept up with the developments in the Kemp " voter suppression " accusations??? Turns out that he was actually following FEDERAL Law on when and how to purge voter rolls. Oh and just in case you missed it, it takes 7 years of inactive voting to be stricken from the rolls, and even then you are put on a provisional voter list so all you have to do is show up and VOTE! You know. the same thing you had to do to STAY on the rolls in the first place...
As a side note, the majority of "minority voters" that made it on to the provisional rolls did so because of an Abrams voter registration drive where her team SCREWED uo their SSN. Funniest part about it??? Not a damn one of those supposed "new voters" has shown up at the polls--in all these years since she did it, LOL!!!!
But please; continue with the ill informed rant. I need the laugh!