How a 388-vote discrepancy changed who won a Georgia House seat
Seminole County flips House race outcome
State election officials closed an inquiry into an overlooked memory card containing roughly 388 uncounted ballots in Seminole County after certified tabulations reversed a Georgia House race.
ATLANTA - A vote-counting discrepancy in Seminole County changed who was leading a closely contested Georgia House race, prompting an investigation by the Secretary of State’s Office.
In Georgia House District 154, Democrat Harry James initially appeared to defeat Republican incumbent Gerald Greene by just 58 votes on election night.
South Georgia voting discrepancy
What we know:
During a routine post-election review, election officials discovered a discrepancy involving approximately 388 votes that were not reflected in the original totals.
Once those votes were processed, Greene moved ahead of James, reversing the apparent election night outcome.
The Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Monday that its investigation has concluded and determined that the memory card containing the additional votes was overlooked, not missing.
In a written statement Friday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said:
"Georgia’s election safeguards are designed to identify discrepancies, and that is exactly what these guardrails did. Our office identified a significant discrepancy, alerted county officials, and uncovered a failure to properly upload election results. This oversight didn’t just affect the numbers," Raffensperger noted. "It changed who was leading an election. That is unacceptable, and we intend to find out exactly how it happened."
Why election results can change
What they're saying:
Bartow County Elections Director Joseph Kirk explained that much of the work to verify election results takes place after election night, during a process known as canvassing.
"You know, some of the most important work we do happens after election night," Kirk said.
"Where we go through a canvassing process, make sure everything checks out. We didn’t want to count votes. We didn’t count anything we shouldn’t have. And that’s why you see results change going into certification."
The canvassing process allows election officials to review voting records, reconcile ballot totals and identify discrepancies before results are certified.
Seminole County election results
What's next:
Seminole County’s election results have been certified following the correction.
County election boards across Georgia faced a 5 p.m. Monday deadline to certify their results from the November 3 general election.
The state certification deadline is November 20.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, which confirmed the conclusion of its investigation into the overlooked memory card and provided statements from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, as well as Bartow County Elections Director Joseph Kirk, who explained the post-election canvassing process.