After election night, about 388 Election Day votes in Seminole County, Georgia, were uploaded late, reversing the unofficial result of a state House race. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opened an investigation Friday. Democrats had just taken the Georgia House for the first time in two decades, and Georgia reporting says the reversal leaves them with only a one-vote cushion — not a result that by itself decides control of the chamber.
Raffensperger’s office said that during routine post-election checks it found about 388 more voters recorded as having checked in at Seminole County polling places on Election Day than the number of ballots the county had reported as cast. When notified, county officials said a memory card containing election results had not been uploaded to the election management system.
The late-uploaded votes changed the unofficial outcome of Georgia State House District 154, a legislative seat covering nine southwest Georgia counties, not a U.S. House race. Republican incumbent Gerald E. Greene of Cuthbert had been trailing Democrat Harry James by fewer than 100 votes, the office said. After the upload, it said Greene led by 262.
The secretary of state’s unofficial statewide tally, last updated Saturday, shows Greene with 10,193 votes, or 50.65 percent, and James with 9,932, or 49.35 percent — a lead of 261, one vote tighter than Friday’s figure.
“Every vote matters, and in a close election, even a relatively small number of unreported ballots can change the outcome,” the office said. Raffensperger, who refused President Donald J. Trump’s 2020 request to investigate Georgia’s presidential results, said: “Georgia’s election safeguards are designed to identify discrepancies, and that is exactly what these guardrails did. Our office identified a significant discrepancy, alerted county officials, and uncovered a failure to properly upload election results. This oversight didn’t just affect the numbers — it changed who was leading an election. That is unacceptable, and we intend to find out exactly how it happened.”
The office said it will investigate whether proper procedures were followed, how the memory card was overlooked, and what measures are needed to prevent a repeat.
On Sunday, Seminole County Elections Supervisor Ronald D. Foskey said there was no memory card “discovered,” “missing,” or “found.” All precinct-card chain-of-custody protocols were followed, he said, and all memory cards were accounted for on election night. The Election Management System computer did not complete its program for the last precinct’s memory card, so the Election Summary Report was marked “Unofficial and Incomplete.” The ballots counted, the ballot scanner tape, and the data in the memory cards all agreed that 2,911 ballots were cast, matching the official Seminole County page. When officials met to certify on Friday, the secretary of state’s office had already alerted them. The last validate-and-publish step was then completed, and the “Final and Complete” report matched the ballot and scanner-tape totals, with an increase of 388 ballots from the election-night unofficial and incomplete report.
The Georgia House has 180 seats, and 91 are needed to pass legislation. Democrats appear to have flipped 13 Republican seats and lost two of their own, and still appear on track to win 92 seats without Greene’s — enough to control the House for the first time in two decades. The reversal means they could have only a one-vote cushion, 92 to 88. Another unresolved race: Rep. Mike Cheokas, a Republican from Americus, failed to win a majority in a three-way contest in District 151 and faces Democrat Ethan Wolfe in a runoff. If Cheokas loses, Democrats could have a two-vote cushion. They held 93 seats before Greene’s race flipped, which matches 93 if James had won and 92 if Greene holds — the first Democratic House majority since 2004.
Counties have until Monday to certify. The secretary of state has until November 20.
The secretary of state’s office says its checks caught a failure to upload. The county says the software did not finish publishing a card that was already accounted for. The investigation is open.
