Breaking|Feb 10, 2021,04:43pm EST|753,917 views
Georgia Sen. Warnock Under Investigation For Voter Registration Misconduct
Nicholas Reimann Forbes Staff
Business
I'm a news reporter for Forbes, primarily covering the U.S. South.
Updated Feb 15, 2021, 09:34am EST
Topline
The Georgia State Election Board voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward with an investigation of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) for his role serving as board chairman of a voter registration organization founded by Stacey Abrams that election officials say failed to follow deadlines, in what appears to be the latest legal step in the ongoing feud between the progressive Abrams and the state’s Republican election officials.
Key Facts
- Warnock served as chairman of the board for the New Georgia Project in 2019, which is when election officials claim misconduct took place.
- Under Georgia election rules, voting registration organizations like the New Georgia Project have to submit completed voter applications within ten days after they are received from the voter.
- But officials allege that during a 2019 registration effort, some 1,268 applications were submitted to the Gwinnett County elections office after the ten-day deadline.
- The Board voted 3-0 to refer the investigation to Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr, with the board’s lone Democrat abstaining from the vote.
- Warnock did not respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
- Warnock resigned his position with the New Georgia Project on January 28, 2020.
Chief Critic
“Today’s State Election Board meeting was the first time we heard about the allegations regarding NGP’s important voter registration work from 2019,” New Georgia Project CEO Nse Ufot said in a statement. “We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official.”
Key Background
Abrams founded the organization in 2014 and has gone on to have several disputes with election officials. In 2018, she launched a well-publicized bid for Georgia governor but lost by about 55,000 votes to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was then Georgia’s secretary of state. Abrams blasted what she said were voter suppression efforts Kemp undertook as secretary of state to aid his gubernatorial campaign, such as purging voter rolls. In December, Raffensperger announced an investigation into the New Georgia Project and other voter registration groups, claiming they “sought to register ineligible, out-of-state or deceased voters.”
Tangent
Warnock narrowly defeated incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in a runoff last month, on the same ballot in which Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) ousted incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). The double victory by Democrats in the Georgia Senate runoffs was enough to tip the scales in the U.S. Senate, with the makeup being a 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris serves as the tie-breaking vote for Democrats if needed.
Surprising Fact
Election officials in Georgia have become well-known for their dismissal of former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the state. On Wednesday, prosecutors in Fulton County announced a criminal probe related to a phone call Trump made to Raffensperger where Trump said he needed Raffensperger to “find” votes.
What To Watch For
Because Warnock won a special election (Loeffler was appointed), he doesn’t have a full term and is immediately up for reelection in 2022.
Further Reading
Election board investigates Warnock and New Georgia Project (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Georgia group founded by Stacey Abrams under investigation for seeking out-of-state, dead voters (Fox News)
Georgia Prosecutors Reportedly Open Criminal Investigation Into Trump’s Call To Secretary Of State (Forbes)
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Nicholas Reimann
I'm a New Orleans-based news reporter for Forbes covering the U.S. South and breaking news. Previously, I wrote for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate covering local government.
Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock Is Under Investigation For Voter Registration Fraud
