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Brian Kemp

While Kemp's campaign says 'election is over;' Abrams' campaign claims 'major victory' following federal judge's ruling

A federal judge’s split-decision ruling Wednesday night energized the campaigns of both Georgia gubernatorial candidates but didn’t bring resolution to a bitter race that stretched into its second week.

While U.S. District Judge Steve Jones sided with the Stacey Abrams’ campaign, ordering that the secretary of state’s office must not certify election results without confirming each county’s vote tally includes absentee ballots on which the voter’s date of birth is missing or incorrect, he ruled against them on two other points.

The judge will not require counties to accept absentee ballots with incorrect addresses or provisional ballots cast by people who tried to vote in the wrong county, prompting Brian Kemp’s campaign to again claim victory.

“Tonight, ‏Judge Jones rejected efforts by Stacey Abrams and her radical allies to undermine the democratic process and rule of law in Georgia,” said Kemp’s communications director, Ryan Mahoney. “He denied her requests to create new voters and slammed the door on attempts to count illegal votes.

“This ruling solidifies Brian Kemp’s insurmountable lead. The election is over and Kemp is the Governor-elect. It's time for Abrams to concede and join our efforts to keep Georgia moving in the right direction.”

More:Federal judge orders review of all provisional ballots in Georgia, delays deadline for certification

Abrams’ campaign, however, had a differing point of view while renewing its claims of voter suppression against Kemp, who, last week, resigned as secretary of state while declaring victory in the governor’s race.

“This is a major victory for Georgia voters and the Abrams campaign in the fight to ensure every eligible vote is counted and every voice is heard,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams’ campaign manager. “Under Brian Kemp’s watch as the nation’s foremost architect of voter suppression, countless Georgians have had substantial roadblocks placed in their path as they sought to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

“Now, the courts are doing what Brian Kemp’s Secretary of State office refused to – upholding and protecting Georgia’s rights and underlining the need for free and fair elections in a state that has suffered from an acute assault on voting rights engineered by none other than Secretary of State Brian Kemp.”

Kemp leads Abrams by nearly 55,000 votes as of Thursday. 

On Tuesday, Groh-Wargo said the Abrams campaign believes she needs a net gain of 17,759 votes to pull Kemp below a majority threshold and force a Dec. 4 runoff. Kemp’s campaign said even if every vote that Abrams campaign is arguing for is granted by the courts and counted for her, she cannot overcome his lead or force a runoff.

The Associated Press has not called the race.

State law requires Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden to certify the election by Tuesday. But Jones prohibited Crittenden from certifying results until she confirms that each county’s returns include the counts for absentee ballots where the birth date was missing or incorrect.

Democrats beyond Georgia have started to echo the notion that a Kemp victory would be illegitimate. Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said Wednesday that if Abrams loses it’s because Republicans stole the election.

“If Stacey Abrams doesn’t win in Georgia, they stole it. I say that publicly, it’s clear,” Brown said during a briefing for the National Action Network.

Hillary Clinton said Abrams "already would have won" if the election had been fair. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., called for a federal investigation. 

The controversy ignited protests Tuesday at the State Capitol. At least 15 people were arrested including State Senator Nikema Williams. 

Protesters were demanding that every vote be counted in the midterm election. 

Kemp’s campaign, which has repeatedly called on Abrams to concede, repeated that call Wednesday, saying Abrams and her supporters have used “fake vote totals,” “desperate press conferences” and “dangerous lawsuits” to try to steal the election.

“After all of the theatrics, the math remains the same,” Kemp campaign spokesman Cody Hall said in an email. “Abrams lost and Brian Kemp won. This election is over.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

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