Politics

Congress opens probe into 2018 Georgia election issues

By Aaron Diamant and Jamie Dupree, Cox Washington Bureau
By Aaron Diamant and Jamie Dupree, Cox Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S House committee has asked Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and state officials for information surrounding the dispute over election irregularities irregularities in Georgia in the 2018 election.

On Wednesday, Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant went to the state capitol to ask Kemp about Congress looking into the elections.

"My reaction to that is they need to quit playing politics up there," the governor said.

A key lawmaker sent an eight-page letter on Wednesday demanding answers about what Democrats said were "unprecedented challenges” for Georgia voters, also questioning the last-minute allegation that Democrats had hacked into the state's election system just two days before Election Day.

TRENDING STORIES:

"The Committee is particularly concerned by reports that Georgians faced unprecedented challenges with registering to vote and significant barriers to casting their votes during your tenure as Secretary of State and during the 2018 election," wrote Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

The letter also demanded a long list of documents including those related to:

Voter roll purges.

  • Whether voter registrations were put on hold under the "exact match policy" policy.
  • Documents related to possible changes in polling locations.
  • Voting machine problems, focusing on Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties.
  • Information on undervotes, especially questions about votes for lieutenant governor.
  • Materials on Kemp's dual status as a candidate for governor and incumbent secretary of state.
  • All documents related to the Nov. 3, 2018, allegation that Democrats had tried to hack the state's voter registration system.

In an exclusive interview, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger promised to cooperate.

“I think that when we get the information to them, they’ll see that Georgia has been doing a great job in so many areas.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, a member of the House Oversight Committee, told our Washington D.C. Bureau that red flags raised by Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams, who lost to Kemp by a slim margin, helped put Georgia on the committee's radar.

The head of the voting rights group founded by Abrams emailed Diamant this statement today:

"We are glad to see our leaders recognizing the magnitude of problems Georgians faced in 2018…Every resource should be leveraged to unearth the root causes of these problems and find solutions to ensure all citizens have their fundamental right to vote.”

The committee has set a March 20 deadline for the state to provide the documents.

Cox Media Group

Most Read