For some reason, there were tens of thousands fewer votes cast in the Georgia lieutenant governor’s election than any other statewide race. A lawsuit alleges that the drop-off in votes indicates the election between Republican Geoff Duncan and Democrat Sarah Riggs Amico was flawed and should be redone. Duncan won by more than 123,000 votes. The lawsuit, filed Friday by an election integrity advocacy group and three voters, blames the state’s 16-year-old direct-recording electronic voting system. About 80,000 fewer votes were counted in the lieutenant governor’s race than the average of ballots recorded in 10 statewide contests in the Nov. 6 election. “The only reasonable explanation for such an anomalous vote discrepancy … is that malfunctioning, erroneous programming or malicious manipulation of the DRE machines caused a material number of votes in the lieutenant governor’s race to not be recorded,” the lawsuit states.
While it’s not unusual for voters to skip down-ballot races, the lawsuit raises suspicions about potential irregularities in the lieutenant governor’s election. The rest of the statewide races on the ballot — for secretary of state, attorney general, schools superintendent and other offices — showed vote totals much closer to the average.
… Earlier this month, Georgia Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden denied a request from Amico to conduct a recount based on the broad allegation that the vote count was lower in the lieutenant governor’s race. Crittenden wrote in a letter to Amico that she didn’t show verifiable evidence of discrepancies or errors.
“Despite the plaintiffs’ vague, unsubstantiated claims to the contrary, November’s election was accurate and secure,” Crittenden said in a statement Monday. “Ultimately, we believe that their claims will fail in court, and the integrity of the election system will be affirmed.”
The lieutenant governor’s race had the lowest total vote count of any statewide race, even though it was the second race listed on the ballot after the contest for governor between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.
Full Article: Georgia Election 2018: Lawsuit raises suspicions about vote total.