The Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia, Stacey Abrams, said on Monday her opponent had “abused his power”, a day after Brian Kemp, who is also Georgia’s secretary of state, announced an unexplained investigation into alleged “cybercrime” by the state Democratic party.
The Republican accused Democrats of attempting to “hack” Georgia’s online voter registration system but offered no evidence for the charge.
Reports have since emerged that a private citizen uncovered a flaw in the voting system – which Kemp controls in his state role – which would allow anyone with access to an individual’s personal information to alter that voter’s record.
“I think, unfortunately, Secretary Kemp has not only abused his power, he has failed to do his job,” Abrams said in an interview with ABC. “And you don’t deserve a promotion when you do not serve the people you’ve been hired to serve.”
Abrams told CNN Kemp’s investigation was a “witch-hunt” and said it was a “complete and utter fabrication” to say Democrats were involved.
The news site WhoWhatWhy reported that a man claiming to be a Georgia resident had uncovered the flaw and alerted Georgia Democrats. The site reported that Democrats then shared the information with lawyers for Kemp and national intelligence officials.
It was only after that, WhoWhatWhy reported, that Kemp announced he was opening an investigation into Democrats for hacking.
The Georgia race has been tainted by accusations of voter suppression under Kemp and racially charged remarks directed at Abrams. If elected, Abrams would be the first non-white, non-male governor of Georgia and the first female African American governor in US history.
On Saturday, it was reported that racist robocalls bankrolled by white supremacists were targeting Abrams and Oprah Winfrey, who has campaigned in the state. Kemp said the calls were “vile” but on Monday Abrams criticized his response.
“I think it’s a little late for him to repudiate racist remarks, given that he stood with someone wearing an anti-Islam T-shirt, he refused to denounce the same man earlier,” Abrams said, referring to a photo that showed Kemp standing with a man wearing a T-shirt claiming “Allah is not God”.
Donald Trump, who has used incendiary language in his campaign appearances over the past few weeks, appeared with Kemp in Georgia on Sunday, at a rally which Kemp pulled out of a scheduled debate with Abrams to attend.
The president accused Abrams, a Yale law school graduate who spent six years as minority leader of the Georgia house, of being “not qualified” for the job.
In Florida on Saturday, Trump also said Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate who would be the first black governor of Florida, who has also faced racist attack ads, was “not equipped” for the job.
