Protesters chant ‘Count every vote’ in Georgia Capitol building
A group of protesters gathered at the Georgia state Capitol building on Tuesday to call for uncounted ballots from last week’s midterm elections to be tallied.
Protesters chanted “Count every vote,” and held signs bearing the slogan in the statehouse rotunda, according to video posted to Twitter by Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Greg Bluestein.
Chants of “count every vote” ring out under the Gold Dome, as @staceyabrams supporters urge courts to allow more provisional ballots to be tallied – steps from @BrianKempGA’s former office. #gapol pic.twitter.com/eRByjI8WNw
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) November 13, 2018
Several protesters, including a state senator, were arrested and escorted out of the Capitol building, according to the Associated Press.
Sen. Nikema Williams (D) said she was arrested “because I refused to leave the floor of this building where I’m a state senator.”
The protest comes as state elections officials continue to tally uncounted ballots following last week’s midterms.
{mosads}A federal judge on Monday ordered Georgia election officials to preserve and count provisional ballots filed in the state’s midterm elections for the state’s hotly contested gubernatorial contest.
U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg ruled that Georgia’s secretary of state office must protect and begin counting provisional ballots. Totenberg also ruled that the office must set up a website or other official system to notify voters whether their ballots were or were not accepted.
Republican nominee Brian Kemp (R) holds a narrow lead over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams. Kemp’s campaign has urged Abrams to concede, calling her refusal to do so “a disgrace to democracy.”
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“I am fighting to make sure our democracy works for and represents everyone who has ever put their faith in it. I am fighting for every Georgian who cast a ballot with the promise that their vote would count,” Abrams said in a statement Monday.
Georgia’s gubernatorial race was marked for months with accusations of voter suppression aimed at Kemp, who stepped down as the state’s secretary of state and elections chief last week after facing repeated calls and legal challenges urging him to resign his post or recuse himself from any matters related to the election in which he is a candidate.
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