Stacey Abrams Campaign Calls For GOP Opponent to Resign Following Accusations of Voter Suppression

The office of Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is running for governor in Georgia, is in charge of elections and voter registration.

Breanna Edwards Oct, 12, 2018

Earlier this week news broke that 53,000 voter registration applications—around 70 percent of them belonging to Black voters—were stalling in Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s Office because they did not meet the state’s “exact match” requirements.

Kemp, who is currently running for governor, but whose office is in charge of elections and voter registration in Georgia, has been accused of willfully suppressing votes in his heated battle against Stacey Abrams.

Now, according to CNN, Abrams’ campaign is calling for Kemp to resign amidst the controversial reports that the most minor of errors between the voter’s registration card and driver’s license, social security card or state ID—a typo, a missing letter, or even just a hyphen dropped from a last name—can cause the voter’s application to be flagged and put on ice.

“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.

Callazo demanded that Kemp relieve himself from his position “so that Georgia voters can have confidence that their Secretary of State [will] competently and impartially oversee this election.”

Kemp, for his part, has brushed off the accusations, saying that the whole mix up was the fault of the New Georgia Project, a voter registration group founded by Abrams in 2013. Kemp’s office accused the group of submitting inadequate forms for several applicants. Of course, most of applicants that Kemp had a problem with were Black.

Still, Kemp’s campaign insists that those voters can still sort out their documents at election sites, or cast provisional ballots.

“While outside agitators disparage this office and falsely attack us, we have kept our head down and remained focused on ensuring secure, accessible, and fair elections for all voters,” Kemp said in a statement. “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.”