Lawsuit seeks new election for Georgia lieutenant governor

ATLANTA -- Fewer votes were tallied for the Georgia lieutenant governor's race than other statewide elections Nov. 6 due to problems with voting machines, according to a lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court. A second election is needed because of the voting flaws, the suit states.

The declared winner for lieutenant governor was Republican Geoff Duncan, who had 1,951,738 votes to Democrat Sarah Riggs Amico's 1,828,566. The lieutenant governor's race reported 3,780,034 votes, while all other statewide races exceeded 3.843 million votes, the lawsuit states. The governor's race tallied 3.939 million votes and the remaining eight statewide races averaged 3.86 million votes.

The nonprofit, Colorado-based group called Coalition for Good Governance and three Georgia voters filed the suit, which names Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden, election officials in Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, and Lt. Gov.-elect Geoff Duncan. The defendants were not available for comment on the suit.

"Citizens must not permit flawed elections to stand," Bruce Brown, an Atlanta attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement. "Otherwise our democratic process fails. Until Georgia election officials commit to conduct fair and verifiable elections, the courts must intervene on behalf of Georgia voters. We look forward to a prompt resolution to this case and a new election conducted in a responsible and legal manner."

In addition to seeking a new election, the lawsuit asks that the new election be conducted on paper ballots, voter registration records be corrected and absentee ballots be improved.

Duncan, a small-business owner, served five years in the Georgia House before resigning last year to focus on his campaign. Amico, a first-time candidate, is the executive chairwoman of a large truck-hauling company.

Story Filed By Cox Newspapers

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