The state of Georgia will not be able to certify election results before Friday thanks to a federal judge’s order, issued Monday night, that election officials review all provisional ballots cast.
According to CNN, the Secretary of State’s office — which Republican governor candidate Brian Kemp resigned from last week — estimated that more than 21,000 provisional ballots were cast.
Judge Amy Tontenberg also established a hotline that voters can contact to determine whether or not their provisional ballots were counted, and if not, the reason why.
The new deadline for the election results to be certified is November 20 by 5 p.m.
What’s more, a different judge ruled on Tuesday that absentee ballots that were initially rejected because of problems with a voter’s date of birth will also be counted.
2nd ruling against Kemp today…so far…
“Judge May wrote in a 17-page order that the county was found to be acting in violation of the Civil Rights Act with its rejection of absentee ballots solely on the basis of an omitted or incorrect birth year.” https://t.co/o091gHVIiF— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) November 13, 2018
The decisions come as the state’s governor’s race remains “unsettled,” CNN reported. Kemp declared himself the winner last week since he was leading Democrat Stacey Abrams by nearly 59,000 votes. However, Abrams has refused to concede.
“I am fighting to make sure our democracy works for and represents everyone who has ever put their faith in it,” Abrams said in a statement. “I am fighting for every Georgian who cast a ballot with the promise that their vote would count.”
Kemp called Abrams’ decision “a disgrace to democracy.”
Monday’s ruling was a response to a recently filed lawsuit by Common Cause Georgia, which accused Kemp of “acting recklessly after a vulnerability in Georgia’s voter registration database was exposed shortly before the election,” NBC News reported.