UPDATE: Abrams vs. Kemp

With tens of thousands of votes left to be counted, The Abrams for Governor campaign is committed to fighting until every vote is, according to a press release from the campaign.

As of 4:00 A.M., there was a 85,167-vote difference in favor of Kemp, constituting about a 2 point difference.

It is currently unclear if a runoff will be in order. To trigger one, the Abrams campaign needs to net from 24,379 votes out of the tens of thousands potential ballots that are outstanding.

Democrats have not seen success in runoffs past. Many Libertarians – the party of third-party nominee Ted Metz – may swing Republican in a runoff election. Metz received just under 1 percent of the votes.

Three of the four largest counties in the state – DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb – have reported only a portion of the votes that were submitted by early mail. In Cobb county alone, anywhere from 25,000 to 26,000 votes were submitted by early mail.

Four other large counties – Chatham, Henry, Douglas, and Clarke – haven’t reported any votes submitted early by mail.

These seven counties, which represent heavily-Democratic leaning constituencies, are expected to return a minimum of 77,000 ballots. The majority of these votes are anticipated to be for Abrams.

Absentee ballots also represent another pickup opportunity for Abrams, with 20,000 in Gwinnett County alone waiting to be counted.

A historic number of provisional and paper ballots were cast this election, largely due to machine breakdowns and poor election administration, of which many are blaming Kemp and his office. Machine breakdowns occurred largely in areas with large black populations, resulting in extremely long lines. African-American voters generally vote Democrat.

Stacey Abrams addressed supporters last night and early this morning, saying she is not giving up on this race.

“When you chose me as your Democratic nominee, I made you a vow. In our Georgia, no one is unseen, no one is unheard, and no one is uninspired,” Abrams said.

“Votes remain to be counted. Voices waiting to be heard. Across the state, folks are opening up the dreams of voters, and we believe our chance for a stronger Georgia is just within reach. We cannot seize it, however, until all voices are heard. And we are going to make sure that every vote is counted – because in a civilized nation, the machinery of democracy should work everywhere for everyone.”

She closed out her remarks with this message: “This is not about me. It’s about us. Our voices. (repeat) Our votes. (repeat) Our time. (repeat) Because we are Georgia. We are Georgia. We are Georgia. So let’s get it done!”