Wednesday, December 9, 2009
News Handel: Mayor's race voting fraud allegations are unfounded
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel's office says it's done some preliminary digging and discovered that allegations of questionable voting in the Atlanta mayor's race appear to be — wait for it — unfounded.
So sayeth the Secretary of State's Office of Inspector General, via cyborg messenger pigeon:
“Based on preliminary findings, we believe that the original list provided by Citizens for Fair Atlanta Elections is not a list of voters who actually cast a ballot in the Atlanta mayoral election. Rather, it appears to have been created or pooled from a larger list of registered voters. From this list, approximately 40 voters do not appear to have valid residence addresses. The Inspector General’s Office will continue its investigation to determine the eligibility status of these voters. We are forwarding these preliminary investigative findings to the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration as it conducts its own investigation into this matter."
Mayor-elect Kasim Reed, who narrowly defeated Mary Norwood by 715 votes in the Dec. 1 runoff, has rejected the allegations. The recount was scheduled to begin about six minutes ago, so we'll have more to report throughout the day.
Comments (4)
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Norwood should do the appropriate thing and formally concede the election once the recount is confirmed this afternoon. Anything short of a concession will speak volumes about her character. That being said, I'm not sure what she will do.
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Just out of curiosity, but what jurisdiction does the Secretary of State have to investigate or review the results of municipal elections anyway?
JR, From the original release from Handel's office:
“On Monday, December 7, 2009, the Secretary of State’s Elections Division received a complaint from an organization called Citizens for Fair Atlanta Elections, alleging that approximately 1,300 ballots were cast in the Atlanta mayoral election by voters whose addresses no longer exist. The Secretary of State’s Office of Inspector General immediately opened a preliminary investigation into this allegation. ... “Though Georgia election law provides the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration the authority to certify this municipal election, the Secretary of State’s Office will provide any information we can to assist them in their responsibilities under the law, and to protect the integrity of our elections process. We will continue to thoroughly investigate this matter and any potential elections violations.” Background: The Official Code of Georgia, Annotated (O.C.G.A.) provides the processes for election certification, election recounts, and options for candidates to challenge election outcomes: 1) O.C.G.A. § 21-2-70(9); 21-2-497; and 21-2-502(d) provide for election certification at the local level. Municipal elections are certified only by the appropriate county or municipal election superintendents. 2) O.C.G.A. § 21-2-495 provides for election recounts. A recount can be called by the election superintendent or by the losing candidate, if the losing margin was one percent or less. 3) O.C.G.A. § 21-2-520 through 21-2-529 provide for contesting the outcome of an election. An election contest must be filed in county superior court.
Surprise! Mary picks up 1 vote in recount. That was worth it. Will she concede now and give an unambiguous rebuttal to her friends the Longs? Or will she still be looking for information as Kasim's term comes to an end in 2013? http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-mayor-s-race-234316.html
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