‘Memory Card’ Discovered After Election Changes Outcome In Key State

Election officials in a key battleground state have opened an investigation after 388 Election Day votes were omitted from initial unofficial results in a state House race, reversing which candidate was leading.The discrepancy occurred in Seminole County in southwest Georgia during Tuesday’s midterm elections and affected the closely contested House District 154 race.Democratic challenger Harry James initially led longtime incumbent Republican Rep. Gerald Greene by 58 votes.After the additional Seminole County results were processed, Greene moved ahead by 262 votes, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office.The dramatic reversal was discovered during routine post-election checks.State officials found approximately 388 more voters had been recorded as checking in at Seminole County polling locations than the number of ballots included in the county’s reported Election Day results.The Secretary of State’s office contacted county election officials about the discrepancy.Raffensperger’s office said the Seminole County Board of Elections subsequently determined that a memory card containing election results had not been uploaded into the county’s election management system.“Georgia’s election safeguards are designed to identify discrepancies, and that is exactly what these guardrails did,” Raffensperger said.“Our office identified a significant discrepancy, alerted county officials, and uncovered a failure to properly upload election results,” he continued.