Previously unreported votes reverse lead in Georgia state House race, threatening Democrats’ narrow majority

A vote-counting discrepancy in Seminole County has put a Republican incumbent ahead in a state legislative contest, prompting an investigation into how 388 votes went unreported on election night.

A closely contested Georgia state House race has taken an unexpected turn after election officials identified 388 previously unreported votes in southwest Georgia, reversing the apparent outcome of a contest that could determine just how much power Democrats hold in the state legislature.

The discrepancy involves Georgia House District 154, not the governor's race or a congressional election.

Republican incumbent Gerald Greene had been trailing Democratic challenger Harry James by just 58 votes following Tuesday's election. But after the additional votes were included in Seminole Country's totals, Greene moved ahead by 262 votes, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has launched an investigation into why the votes were not included in the initial results and whether election officials followed required procedures.

"This oversight didn't just affect the numbers — it changed who was leading an election," Raffensperger said. "That is unacceptable, and we intend to find out exactly how it happened."

The discrepancy was uncovered during routine post-election checks when state officials noticed that approximately 388 more voters had checked in at Seminole County polling places than the number of ballots reported as cast.

Although initial reports described the issue as a missing memory card, Seminole County Elections Supervisor Ron Foskey disputed that characterization Saturday, saying all memory cards had been accounted for on election night.

According to Foskey, the county's election management system had not completed the final step necessary to validate and publish results from the last precinct's memory card. Once that step was completed, the updated totals matched the county's ballot scanner records.

The county maintained that its chain-of-custody procedures were followed. State officials are investigating how the reporting error occurred.

The implications extend beyond one legislative district.

Democrats emerged from Tuesday's election poised to control the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time in more than two decades. But the reversal in District 154 could leave the party with just 92 seats in the 180-member chamber, only one more than the 91 needed for a majority.

Another legislative contest remains unresolved. Republican state Rep. Mike Cheokas faces Democrat Ethan Wolfe in a Dec. 1 runoff, leaving the chamber's final balance of power unsettled.

The District 154 contest is also significant because Greene, who was first elected as a Democrat in 1982 before switching parties after the 2010 election, is currently the only Republican in Georgia's General Assembly representing a majority-Black district, according to the AJC.

The corrected vote totals have not ended scrutiny of the election. Raffensperger's office is examining what went wrong and what measures may be necessary to prevent similar reporting discrepancies in future elections.

County officials face a Monday deadline to certify their election results.