A self-described non-partisan advocacy group announced plans Tuesday to file an 11th-hour lawsuit to stop Georgia Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp from overseeing vote-counting in his own election.
Protect Democracy – a non-profit founded in part by former Obama administration staffers – is representing five Georgia voters in the planned lawsuit who claim that Kemp’s oversight of his own election violates their Constitutional right “to cast an effective vote.”
“This violates a basic notion of fairness – that a man should not be a judge in his own matter – and it has had predictable results,” a copy of the complaint reads.
The complaint, to be filed in the Northern District of Georgia, alleges a series of instances of “extreme bias” against Kemp’s opponent – Stacey Abrams.
Specifically, the lawsuit cites an investigation that Kemp’s office launched into alleged hacking by the Abrams campaign as evidence of bias.
“Defendant Kemp used the resources of his office and the official Secretary of State website to make these accusations to deflect blame for his own failures to address flaws in the election system and to falsely harm his opponents,” the lawsuit reads.
Kemp opened the investigation after Georgia Democrats pointed out a potential security flaw in the state’s election system.
Candice Broce, a Kemp spokeswoman, told TPM in a written statement that, “this twelfth-hour stunt will not distract us from fulfilling our responsibilities and working with county officials to ensure a secure, accessible, and fair election for all eligible Georgians.”
