A precinct’s memory card containing missing votes has shaken up a race for a seat in Georgia’s House of Representatives, where party control has not yet been decided.
According to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, unofficial results showed a Republican incumbent trailing his Democratic challenger. Then, Seminole County’s board of elections determined that a memory card with election results hadn’t been properly uploaded.
After those votes had been counted, State Representative Gerald Greene, the Republican incumbent, appeared to be leading, Mr. Raffensperger said in a statement on Friday.
On Sunday morning, The Associated Press hadn’t made calls in four of the Georgia State House races, including in the district where Mr. Greene is running, State House District 154, which is in the state’s southwest corner. So far, 90 seats have been called for Democrats and 86 for Republicans; a majority would require 91 seats.
The memory card revelations came after the secretary of state’s office identified a discrepancy between the number of voters who checked into polling places on Election Day and the votes reported by the Seminole County board of elections.
“Therefore, the Election Summary Report marked ‘Unofficial and Incomplete’ was just that (unofficial and incomplete),” said Ronald Foskey, elections supervisor in Seminole County.
Mr. Raffensperger called the oversight “unacceptable,” announcing on Friday that he had opened an investigation into the delayed vote upload.
“Every vote matters, and in a close election, even a relatively small number of unreported ballots can change the outcome,” Mr. Raffensperger said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, was elected governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman to hold the state’s top office and the first Democrat in more than 25 years. Republicans will hold the majority in Georgia’s State Senate.
Harry James, Mr. Greene’s Democratic opponent, said he was confused by the memory card mishap.
“Just trying to keep an open mind till we get some understanding of what happened or how it happened,” he said.
Mr. Greene did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The deadline for counties to certify their general election results is Monday.
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