A federal judge has ordered Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to answer questions about his statements on minority voter registration and his oversight of election investigations.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled that Kemp must submit to two hours of questioning in a lawsuit over problems in last year’s election for governor. As secretary of state, Kemp was Georgia’s chief elections official until he resigned after Election Day. The lawsuit is asking the courts to intervene in Georgia’s elections following voter purges, absentee ballot cancellations, precinct closures and other allegations of obstacles to voting. The lawsuit was filed by Fair Fight Action, a group founded by allies of Kemp’s general election opponent last year, Democrat Stacey Abrams.
“Only then-Secretary Kemp can explain what he actually meant” when he expressed concerns about Democrats’ efforts to register more minority voters, Jones ruled Thursday. Kemp’s comments about minority voters came during remarks to a group of Gwinnett County Republicans in 2014.
“You know the Democrats are working hard, and all these stories about them, you know, registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines, if they can do that, they can win these elections in November. But we’ve got to do the exact same thing,” Kemp said. Kemp called on those in attendance to register more Republican voters. Jones wrote that Kemp can also provide information about whether state election officials quickly investigated and addressed complaints.
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