The results of multiple house and state-wide elections are now under great scrutiny following claims of voter suppression across the country, ranging from things like gerrymandering to voter ID laws, which are both widely criticized for being partisan. Especially in the Georgia’s gubernatorial race, voter suppression has been an incredibly hot issue. 

Stacey Abrams, the Democrat in the race, has refused to concede the race, not planning on doing so until, as she says, “every vote is counted.” Her statements about waiting until every vote is counted is largely caused by the rampant voter suppression and registrations issues that have been observed during this specific race. 

Abrams’ opponent, Brian Kemp, is currently serving as the state’s Secretary of State, handling all voting and election matters. Normally, this would warrant a recusal from his position, at least temporarily. However, Kemp decided to stay in his position, using his power to gift wrap the race for him.

In October alone, Kemp cancelled 53,000 registrations using the controversial ‘exact match laws’ which enable the cancellation of registrations and ballots for minor discrepancies like hyphens, omitted middle initials, and issues with signatures. 

Kemp also rejected federal help on election security, despite multiple cyber security firms submitting official reviews to the FBI, FEC, and Kemp’s office. Each of the assessments state that election security in Georgia is sub-par, especially as it is one of 14 states that does not certify electronic ballots with paper receipts, leaving it incredibly vulnerable to tampering and hacking. 

As an update, on Nov. 12, a Federal Judge ruled with the Abrams campaign, forcing the counting of provisional ballots.