LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) - A candidate for probate judge in Long County is asking a judge to order a new election, alleging some people voted twice and others sent in absentee ballots that were improperly counted because they weren’t signed or because someone else requested the absentee ballot for them.
Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs tells the Daily Report of Fulton County that the office is investigating the June 9 election.
“It’s clear that Long County has dropped the ball and failed to maintain proper procedures,” Fuchs said. “Make no mistake about it. Our office will aggressively pursue (to) the fullest extent under the law to hold each double voter accountable.”
Incumbent Bobby Harrison Smith filed a court petition seeking a new election on July 1 after the final ballot tallies in his race kept changing, and three recounts each yielded different results. According to Smith’s petition, the final tally showed that, with 2,792 votes cast, challenger Teresa Odum beat Smith by 19 votes. Within 24 hours, three additional votes for Odum surfaced, according to the petition. A difference of less than 1% in the final tally allows for a recount under Georgia law.
But when county election officials attempted to recount the ballots on June 24, none of the voting machines worked, according to Smith’s petition. After multiple rounds of trouble-shooting, the machines finally began working, but two tests indicated Smith secured more than 60% of the votes, his petition said. A full recount took place and reflected a new vote total of 2,798 votes - this time with Smith trailing Odum by just two votes. Then 16 more uncounted ballots surfaced, resulting in a third tally that totaled 2,814 votes and gave Odum a nine-vote advantage, the petition said. Long County officials certified those results on June 26.
The elections board has offered no explanation for the discrepancies, said Smith’s attorney, Jake Evans.
The Long County Board of Elections and Registration referred questions to county attorney James Smith, who couldn’t be reached for comment.
Odum’s lawyer, Luke Moses, called Smith’s claim of voter irregularities “abjectly false.” He said records belie Smith’s claims that some voters improperly cast ballots who no longer lived in Long County or that current residents were improperly turned away from the polls.
“There is not one accusation in his initial complaint that will hold up under scrutiny of the court,” Moses said.
But Moses said he was not informed of Smith’s new claim that at least seven people voted twice. He also said he was not aware of the Secretary of State’s critique of county election officials. Moses insisted that, even if true, those double votes - a total of 14 ballots - were not enough to change the election’s outcome.
Evans said one voter told him he voted twice - once during early voting and a second time when he accompanied his wife to the polls “just to see if he could do it.”
“I’ve handled multiple election contest cases,” Evans said. “In those cases, I have never seen more systematic, across-the-board administrative failures and voter fraud than this case.”
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