Lauren Groh-Wargo, Stacey Abrams' campaign manager, said there are still no talks of conceding the governor's race to Republican Brian Kemp. The campaign believes that once all absentee and provisional ballots are counting, Abrams can close the rough 15,000 vote gap needed to force a runoff.
“We’re still seeing outstanding mail ballots trickle in in several counties, including the large county of Gwinnett and the smaller county of Clarke,” Groh-Wargo said. “In fact, of the 15,000 that we’re looking for to meet the runoff threshold, we think there are about that many mail ballots alone that still remain to be processed.”
According to the latest numbers on the Secretary of State’s website, the current gap to force a runoff is closer to 32,000 votes. But more results are reported, that threshold will continue to fluctuate.
She said irregularities and issues during early voting and on Election Day means there are also an unknown number of provisional ballots, paper ballots and flagged mail-in ballots to be processed. Those could represent thousands of additional votes to be counted.
Because of the many questions surrounding the election, Abrams campaign says their warnings prior to election day about Kemp’s refusal to step down as Secretary of State have come true.
“Overall we feel that the onus is on our campaign to fight for fairness, for a fair election, and we’re up against an unfair system where our own opponent is overseeing his election,” Groh-Wargo said.
Noting that counties may not certify election results until Tuesday because of the Monday holiday, she said there could be many days before the outcome of the gubernatorial race is determined. Once counties turn the numbers into the Secretary of State, he has until Nov. 20 to certify statewide results.
Abrams’ campaign may not wait until then if it decides legal action is needed.
“We have an incredibly experienced Atlanta-based team, and they know the Georgia Code and they know these counties,” Groh-Wargo said. “So, we are looking at all options.”
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