Stating she cannot succeed in the contest for Georgia governor due to “deliberate and intentional” voter suppression, Democrat Stacy Abrams said in a public address, “This is not a speech of concession.” Immediately afterwards, she said she plans to file a federal lawsuit challenging Georgia’s “gross mismanagement” of elections, according to the Associated Press.
Abrams fell short on Election Day and in the 10 days since, as votes put her opponent, Republican Brian Kemp, always in the lead. Kemp was the Georgia Secretary of State until his resignation a day after the election. Abrams remained about 18,000 votes short of a result that would have required a runoff between her and Kamp in December.
She had considered filing a lawsuit that, if she prevailed, would have force the state to hold a new election. That was under consideration as recently as the morning of Nov. 16, but the candidate opted against that direction.
While secretary of state, Kemp used a controversial “exact match” procedure for voter registration that left 53,000 potential voters in limbo days before the election. That group was 70% African American.
In a speech on Nov. 19 right at the cutoff for Georgia counties to certify election results, Abrams delivered a speech in which she said, “I acknowledge that former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be certified as the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial election.” However, Abrams said Kemp had relied on “suppression of the people’s democratic right to vote” that was “deliberate and intentional.”
