Voter fraud investigation in Georgia: Two groups tied to Democrats are under investigation for forged voter applications

There’s some big news is coming out of the Peach State that implicates organizations tied to state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta), a supporter of Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter, the Democratic Party of Georgia’s nominees for U.S. Senate and Governor.

Third Sector Development, founded by Abrams, and its subsidiary, the New Georgia Project, have allegedly forged voter registration applications, forged signatures, and told voters that they have to re-register. The two organizations focus their efforts on minority engagement. According to WSB-TV, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office subpoenaed records from the two investigations after receiving numerous complaints:

In a memo sent to county elections officials, Secretary of State Brian Kemp said in recent weeks his office has “received numerous complaints about voter applications submitted by the New Georgia Project.”

Kemp wrote, “Preliminary investigation has revealed significant illegal activities’ including forged voter registration applications, forged signatures on releases, and applications with false or inaccurate information.”

A spokesman confirmed Kemp’s office was contacted by officials in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Bartow, Butts and Muscogee counties.

“We’re just not going to put up with fraud. I mean, we have zero tolerance for that in Georgia so we’ve opened an investigation and served some subpoenas,” Kemp told Channel 2 political reporter Lori Geary.  “At the end of the day this is not going to be about politics. This is about potential fraud which we think happened.”

Abrams, of course, denies any wrongdoing, claiming that the New Georgia Project has “has worked directly with the Secretary of State’s Office every step of the way” and been “transparent” in its activities. An Atlanta pastor connected with the organization told WSB-TV that he “hope[s] that this investigation by the Secretary of State is not intended to thwart efforts to enfranchise voters.” Eyeroll.

Here’s video of the story:

It’s worth noting that The Cook Political Report has the Georgia U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races listed as a toss ups, largely due to the recruitment of strong, well-funded Democratic candidates. Still, most Democrats concede that Nunn and Carter face an uphill battle in their respective races, which means that Democrats need to ramp up their voter registration and GOTV efforts to have a fighting chance.