On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams answered a question on whether she will accept the ruling by Obama-nominated U.S. District Judge Steve Jones against a lawsuit around that election filed by a group backed by her by stating that “I stand by my complaint about any time state actors put barriers to access” and responded to a question on whether she’ll concede that she lost the election by arguing that “the process denied access to too many voters, and that was proven” in the lawsuit.
After playing a clip of Abrams vowing to sue over the “gross mismanagement” of the 2018 election, host Erin Burnett asked, “So, now that the Judge has ruled against you, do you accept the ruling as it is?”
Abrams responded, “Well, let’s be clear about what this ruling said, it was a 288-page ruling, where the judge explicitly stated that both my organization — or the organization I founded and the secretary of state’s office, won some of the complaints, we lost some. Over the course of the last four years, because of this lawsuit, 22,000 people were restored to the rolls. 2,000 people who were subject to a system that denied their access to the right to vote based on their citizenship — or based on becoming new citizens, they were finally allowed to actually be put back on the rolls. Because of this litigation, there [were] dramatic changes made, through legislation, to the absentee ballot process. Because of this litigation, there were changes made to exact match. Because of this litigation, over the last four years, we have seen improvements made to the process of elections. But, unfortunately, in response to those changes and the very dramatic evidence that came about because of increased access, we also saw this governor and this Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, pass S.B. 202 to put new barriers in place. And so, I stand by my complaint about any time state actors put barriers to access in front of eligible voters, we should always push back. And I will continue to be very proud of the work that Fair Fight has done and will continue to do to protect access to the right to vote in Georgia.”
Host Erin Burnett asked, “Is there any scenario under which you would concede that you lost, publicly, in 2018?”
Abrams answered, “In 2018, on the day I made that speech, if you played the beginning of the speech, I acknowledged that I am not the governor, that Brian Kemp won the election. What I said is that the process denied access to too many voters, and that was proven by more than 3,000 voters who made their voices heard, by a trial and a process that was the first full-length trial held on voting rights in more than a decade in the state of Georgia. I have never denied the outcome. I have always questioned the process and the access. And I think it’s dangerous and disingenuous to conflate concerns about access and concerns about outcome. Outcome is about who wins. And no one is entitled to victory, including myself. I have never been unclear about the fact that I did not win the race. But access belongs to every eligible American. And it is incumbent upon every person, at every level of government, and in our society to demand that equal access to the right to vote be made available in this country, and that’s what I continue to fight for.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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