OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrat candidate for governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, got taken apart when she appeared on Fox News for an interview.
She was met by host Shannon Bream who peppered her with questions about a lawsuit she, and a group she is aligned with, were defeated by the state of Georgia by a judge, U.S. District Court Judge Steven Jones’, appointed by former President Obama.
Abrams, much like after she was defeated by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian kemp the first time, did not see her defeat, where she did not win a single count, as a defeat.
“You are a successful author and attorney. You’ve said that words are very careful. You choose them carefully. They’re important. You’ve used the words rigged and stolen about the 2018 gubernatorial election. You said it was proper because you can back it up. But a federal judge has now said the voter protocols that you challenged in Georgia, by his estimation, didn’t violate the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act,” the host said.
“New York Times adds this: ‘The judge who was nominated by President Barack Obama added that verified action did not provide direct evidence of a voter who was unable to vote, experienced longer wait times, was confused about voter registration status’” Do you take issue with Judge Jones’ findings in this case?”
“I take issue with the characterization that you’ve read. What the judge said in the 288-page decision was that repeatedly under the Greenville Standard, Georgia violated Section two of the Voting Rights Act. Under the Brnovich standard, which existed as of 2021. The Greenville existed in 2020.
“And when we filed the lawsuit Brnovich, which was the weakening of the Voting Rights Act that happened out of Arizona in 2021. And under the new standard, he did not have the authority to find that we proved our case under violations of Section two. But he said that it was a racially discriminatory system. He spent copious amounts of time explaining how Brian Kemp oversaw a racist system that disproportionately affected Brown voters,” she said.
“He said that while he was deeply concerned about what happened, he could not, under the Brnovich categorization, actually hold him accountable. That is very different than saying nothing happened and what we were able to prove and what took four months. What was the longest, the longest trial on a voting rights case in Georgia in decades. What the court said is that he was not able to find that we could meet the standard under the new weakened Voting Rights Act.
“And that’s the reason that I’m pushing so hard for the Voting Rights Act to be restored and expanded. But it’s also why I’m running for governor. We need a governor who actually cannot be credibly accused of having overseen a racist system. And Brian Kemp, according to Judge Jones, oversaw and helped architect a racist voter suppression system in the state of Georgia,” the candidate said.
“Well, I’ve read the opinion as well, and I would say the characterization is a bit different. But he does ultimately, Judge Jones say no violation of Voting Rights Act. And you mentioned there are different standards in case law that’s evolved through the Supreme Court on that front. But the direct quote from his ruling says, ‘No evidence that a voter couldn’t vote, experienced wait times or confused about voter registration status.’
“And I know the issue here for you is voter suppression. So let’s look at the numbers. In Georgia, the last gubernatorial primary versus now, there was a net increase of 763,380 voters. That sounds like the opposite of voter suppression,” the host said.
"In Georgia — the last gubernatorial primary versus now — there's a net increase of 763,380 voters. That sounds like the opposite of voter suppression?"
STACEY ABRAMS: Oh actually that's not what I meant pic.twitter.com/WlD7DUlrCq
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) October 9, 2022
The judge said:
“Although Georgia’s election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the VRA,” the judge said. “As the Eleventh Circuit notes, federal courts are not ‘the arbiter[s] of disputes’ which arise in elections; it [is] not the federal court’s role to ‘oversee the administrative details of a local election.'”
“Having held a non-jury trial and considered the evidence and arguments of the parties, for the foregoing reasons, the Court finds IN FAVOR of Defendants and against Plaintiffs on all remaining Counts of Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint,” he said.
The case was fought by Abrams and the group Fair Fight after she lost the 2018 election for governor.
“This is a win for all Georgia election officials who dedicate their lives to safe, secure and accessible elections,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “Stolen election and voter suppression claims by Stacey Abrams were nothing but poll-tested rhetoric not supported by facts and evidence.”
“Judge Jones’ ruling exposes this legal effort for what it really is: a tool wielded by a politician hoping to wrongfully weaponize the legal system to further her own political goals,” Gov. Kemp said.
