Fact Check: Amy Klobuchar Falsely Claims ‘Voting Purges’ Caused Stacey Abrams to Lose Georgia Election

During the fifth Democrat presidential primary debate, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) claimed that Stacey Abrams would have won the gubernatorial election in Georgia if not for “voting purges.”

Last year, Abrams lost her bid for Georgia governor to Gov. Brian Kemp (R). During Wednesday night’s debate, Klobuchar claimed this was due to statewide voter suppression:

I have led the way on voting and I can tell you right now one solution that would make a huge difference in this state would be to allow every kid in the country to register to vote when they turn 18. If we had a system like this and we do something about gerrymandering and we stopped the voting purges … Stacey Abrams would be governor of this state right now. [Emphasis added]

Klobuchar’s claim, though, is untrue and has been previously debunked by the Washington Post when Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) made a similar claim.

“Abrams fell short by 55,000 votes out of nearly 4 million cast, in a case filled with election mischief and fierce disputes,” the Post fact check states. “Buttigieg should not be so definitive in his assertion that Abrams would have won if not for racially motivated measures.”

Similarly, a report by the United States Election Assistance Commission debunked claims that Georgia voters are experiencing unprecedented voter suppression in state elections. The report revealed that Georgia ranks as number one for automated voter registration and has higher absentee ballot acceptance rates compared to past elections.

Georgia was the number one state for automated voter registration and showed significantly higher percentages of accepted absentee and provisional ballots compared to previous elections. Between 2016 and 2018, more than 3.5 million voters in Georgia registered to vote or updated their voter information — the most voters in any state in the nation.

A Brennan Center for Justice study also found that Georgia had a nearly 94 percent increase in voter registrations due to automated voter registration, also more than any state in the nation.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.