Georgia governor’s race roiled by election security charges

In this Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia Stacey Abrams, left, speaks as her Republican opponent Secretary of State Brian Kemp looks on during a debate in Atlanta. A federal judge says Georgia election officials must stop rejecting absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications because of a mismatched signature without first giving voters a chance to fix the problem. U.S. District Judge Leigh May on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 ordered the secretary of state's office to instruct county election officials to stop the practice for the November midterm elections. She outlined a procedure to allow voters to resolve alleged signature discrepancies.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool, File) In this Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, file photo, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia Stacey Abrams, left, speaks as her Republican opponent Secretary of State Brian Kemp looks on during a debate in Atlanta. A federal judge says Georgia election officials must stop rejecting absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications because of a mismatched signature without first giving voters a chance to fix the problem. U.S. District Judge Leigh May on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018 ordered the secretary of state's office to instruct county election officials to stop the practice for the November midterm elections. She outlined a procedure to allow voters to resolve alleged signature discrepancies.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool, File)

By Associated Press November 5, 2018 5 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – The bruising race for governor of Georgia has been roiled by unsupported, eleventh-hour allegations from Republican candidate Brian Kemp, who is also the state’s chief election official, that Democrats sought to hack the voter registration system.

His Democratic opponent, Stacey Abrams, said he is making a baseless accusation to deflect attention from an apparently severe security flaw in the system Kemp is responsible for overseeing.

Here’s a look at the dispute, how it unfolded and what’s at stake.

THE ALLEGATION

Kemp asked the FBI on Sunday to investigate the Democratic Party, accusing it of trying to hack the system he controls as secretary of state. He offered no evidence in support of his request for a probe of the opposition.