As Twitchy reported Friday, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams finally admitted that Brian Kemp won the election, although she refused to concede even then.
Of course, Abrams’ admission came with a caveat; earlier in the week, she had said that Secretary of State Brian Kemp “mismanaged the election to sway it in his favor,” adding, “He’s been the secretary of suppression.”
Yes, Kemp’s office did purge voters from the voter rolls — that’s the law in Georgia and part of his office’s job — but tweets like this one sum up just why people like Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio insisted that if Abrams didn’t win, it was clear the GOP “stole it.”
1.5 million purged by Brian Kemp
53k registrations on hold
4.5 hour lines
214 polling places closed
Dems falsely accused of cyber crimes
Candidate overseeing own election
As @staceyabrams said, GA race was tainted by voter suppressionhttps://t.co/J5YD2QuiKY
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 16, 2018
Twitchy favorite @AG_Conservative has had enough of stories like that one.
If no one else is going to respond to this, I guess I will have to. This list is intentionally misleading to give readers who don't know the facts a false impression and thus undermine a legitimate election. Thread with the truth about each of these accusations: https://t.co/uwyTMeCp96
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
1) The "1.5 million purged" is the total number of voters that have been removed from the rolls since 2012. Many have been removed because they moved, committed felonies, died etc.
The overwhelming majority of the rest were removed because of Georgia's "Use it or lose it" law.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
1 cont) This law was passed in 1997 by A Dem legislature and a Dem Governor in Georgia. Similar laws have been upheld by SCOTUS. It requires the rolls to be updated by removing voters that have not voted for some time and do not respond to contact from the state. For GA: pic.twitter.com/FoM3xc8RhQ
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
1 Cont) Worth noting that the reason there was a large spike in 2017 was that the legally required maintenance was not done in 2015. 3 state officials oversee this effort to prevent major errors. None of them are Brian Kemp.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
2) "53K registrations on hold"
These registrations were labeled pending, but that occurred because there was some discrepancy between their registration and their files. All of these voters could still vote w/ normal ballots as long as they provided ID at the polling place. pic.twitter.com/hkugdfYYcP
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
3) 4.5 Hour lines. Yes, there were long lines at some polling locations. That happens on election day. GA does have early voting options. Local officials manage those place and it has little to do with the Secretary of State.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
4) "214 polling places closed"
This is the total number of polling places closed across the state since 2012. Those places were consolidated with other locations to save money. Those decisions were made by local County officials to save money, and have 0 to do with Kemp. pic.twitter.com/JzGLLDxyUv
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
5) "Dems falsely accused of cyber crimes"
This one probably has the most basis for controversy, but the investigation is still pending. Dems hired cybersecurity experts to test a voter info page after a report from a voter about vulnerabilities. This raised red flags. pic.twitter.com/NG2pMc3dAA
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
I don't think Kemp's office handled the allegation in #5 well, especially given how close they were to the election, but almost all of the other examples were legitimate activities that had little to do with Kemp. Creation of a myth to suggest otherwise undermines our elections.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
To conclude: There is a high burden to justify claiming an election was stolen. Dems, included elected officials, have not met that burden and should be condemned for saying so without evidence. Stacey Abrams lost a legitimate election. Period.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
And like Hillary Clinton said, refusing to accept the results of an election threatens democracy itself.
This widespread conspiracy is the most frustrating narrative from the midterms. I have not seen one person on the left pushing back, save for Tapper.
— Not a Bot Scott (@ScottishDuke) November 17, 2018
I appreciate your thoughts here. I would argue that some of these laws in Georgia should be changed, but I definitely oppose those who have exaggerated what actually happened and have accused Kemp of "stealing" the election. Thanks!
— Chaim David (@Socratific) November 17, 2018
Thanks! And it's perfectly legitimate to argue some of these rules are bad!
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 17, 2018
I like the use it or lose it law. As long as there's a reasonable time period of inactivity and reasonable efforts are made to contact people it's a good law and will reduce the risk of fraud by taking nonvoters off the rolls.
— Captain RaveHair (@cflierl53) November 17, 2018
There is certainly nothing wrong with that though I would argue the voter roll purge is way too permissive. You can be 7 years in the ground before GA takes you off the rolls.
— AgainstTrumpDude (@TheAmishDude) November 17, 2018
This has been one of the most aggravating parts of this election cycle in Georgia.
I live in GA. I was purged from the database. I registered again. Voted and done.
There were lines in more populous areas. Always is. There were long lines in NYC. Suppression there?
— cof53 (@cof53) November 17, 2018
My wife & I stood in line almost 2 hours during early voting…we had a lot more voters. Don’t wait til 5p voting day! Get er done!
— Rick Kuhns (@rvkuhns) November 17, 2018
Remember the voters braved “chilly” weather too
— ebeth (@ebeth360) November 17, 2018
Yet, somehow millions of people voted. #TheyPersisted
— ebeth (@ebeth360) November 17, 2018
Well done. No 1 speaks about the fact that Abrams’ platform was extremely liberal for the typical Georgia voter. It is really amazing to me that it was even close. It’s hard to believe those who voted for her actually read her platform before they did. Whew! Is all I can say.
— Thunder (@Hamboneflex) November 17, 2018
Very informative thread, well worth the read. What concerns me about the elections going forward is a party can file suit, get a judge to bend existing election laws that could favor one party over another. Individuals don’t get to decide elections.
— Van Noles (@vnoles) November 17, 2018
So sick of this BS in Florida as well. Elections happen every two years and our mailboxes are flogged for MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ELECTION w information about how to register, how to vote, where to vote, etc.
Why grown adults cannot figure this out year after year is mind blowing.
— MrsLibertas™ (@Bloviate_Barbie) November 17, 2018
Translation- Democrats couldn't steal this election because common sense voting laws were in place.
Sad what has happened in other states and their lack of voter I'D laws.— Freedom F. Heiter (@Freedom_Heiter) November 17, 2018
Thank you. Least one person is trying.
— Mark Meadors (@Meadors68) November 17, 2018
@AG_Conservative lays the #Georgia #StolenElection myth to bed. But it won’t matter to most, especially @TheDemocrats. Far easier to scream racism and Jim Crow than to read this thread.
Twitter is the drive-thru of political discussion. Fast, bad for you, and cheap. ?
— Ruben Navarro (@rnavarro2003) November 17, 2018
Well done AG
— Jen DinNJ (@JenDinnj) November 17, 2018
Unfortunately, just like President Trump, Gov. Brian Kemp will always have a shadow over his “legitimacy” as long as he’s in office.
Related:
WTF is this crap? Stacey Abrams' campaign makes baseless claims against 'secretary of suppression' Brian Kemp https://t.co/dapQT68HKx
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 14, 2018
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