Volunteers track down Ga. voters by phone and on foot

ATLANTA — Volunteers spread out Friday trying to find any ballots that could help Democrat Stacey Abrams close the gap against Republican Brian Kemp in their too-close-to-call race for Georgia governor.

Unofficial returns show Mr. Kemp with an advantage, and he’s already resigned as secretary of state to start a transition with the blessing of the outgoing GOP governor, Nathan Deal. President Donald Trump weighed in with a tweet that said Mr. Kemp “ran a great race in Georgia — he won.It is time to move on!”

Yet Ms. Abrams, who hopes to become the nation’s first black woman governor, sent out volunteers and campaign staff in search of votes that she hopes could still tilt the margin toward her.

Dozens of volunteers converged on a ware house turned-phone bank near downtown. The goal: reach voters who used a provisional ballot to make sure they took steps to ensure their vote — for Ms. Abrams or Mr. Kemp — was counted by Friday evening, the deadline.

Helen Brosnan of the National Domestic Workers Alliance shouted, “How many calls do you think we can make? Can we make hundreds of calls? Let’s do this!”

A majority-black county with more than 750,000 residents in metro Atlanta, DeKalb, said it would remain open past normal hours Friday to accommodate provisional voters who needed to provide identification so their votes could be counted.

But two groups supporting Ms. Abrams’ call to count all votes, Pro Georgia and Care in Action, said at least 12 other counties had certified election results before Friday, a move that could leave provisional ballots uncounted.

Ms. Abrams’ lawyers are exploring options to ensure all votes are counted. Her campaign leaders say they believe she needs to pick up about 25,000votes to force a runoff.

At least 2,000 people across the nation are involved in that effort, said state Sen. Nikema Williams, the Georgia director for Care In Action, which advocates for more than 2 million domestic workers and care workers nationwide.

“We’re in the cradle of the civil rights movement, the home of Congressman John Lewis, who literally bled on the bridge at Selma to make sure that everybody had the right to vote,” she said.

Races for governor and U.S. Senate also are tight in Florida, which Mr. Trump referred to in a tweet that said: “You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia — but the Election was on Tuesday? Let’s blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!”