Several voting machines were stolen in Georgia as the state gears up for a hotly contested special election to replace a Republican who left Congress to take a job in the Trump administration, reports say.
The devices were taken on Monday from a Cobb County precinct manager’s vehicle, according to Channel 2 Acton News.
In a public statement, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said, “It is unacceptable that the Cobb County Elections Office waited two days to notify my office of this theft.”
“We have opened an investigation, and we are taking steps to ensure that it has no effect on the election tomorrow. I am confident that the results will not be compromised,” Kemp added.
Cobb County’s elections director, Janine Eveler, insisted that the information on the machines is “hard to access” and says she does not think the thieves will be able to interfere in the election.
The election has been called to fill the House seat vacated by Rep. Tom Price, who left Congress to become President Trump’s secretary of Health and Human Services.
In 2016, Price won his seat by a lopsided 20 points in the conservative Sixth District.
The GOP side of the election features a crowded field of 11 candidates, but there are five Democrat candidates, as well. Democrat candidate Jon Ossoff, a former congressional staffer, seems to be the favorite on the left, with actors and activists aligning behind him and raising funds for him.
The election pits all candidates against one other, but to win outright, the top vote-getter must garner 50 percent or more. If no candidate gets that 50 percent, a runoff election will determine the winner.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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