Missing Seminole County Memory Card Reverses Apparent Result in Georgia House Race and Narrows Democrats’ Path to Control

ATLANTA, GA — A missing memory card from a Seminole County election machine changed the apparent outcome of a Georgia House race after unofficial results had shown a Republican incumbent losing his seat. Once the card was found and uploaded Friday, the lead shifted to Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert, over Democrat Harry James.

The secretary of state’s office said Greene was ahead by 262 votes after the late-counted data were added. Friday night’s totals on the state website showed Greene with 10,193 votes and James with 9,932, a difference of 261 votes. The correction also had broader implications for control of the state House, where Democrats were already close to the majority they need to govern.

How the missing card changed the race in southwest Georgia

Election night totals had put Greene behind James by fewer than 100 votes, a result that appeared to cost the Republican lawmaker his seat. The corrected count from the missing memory card reversed that picture and placed Greene back in front.

Greene represents a district that reaches into nine counties in the southwest corner of Georgia. Even if the change does not determine which party controls the chamber, it affects which candidate will represent the voters in that district. The shift also underscores how a single uncounted machine card can alter a race that was already extremely close.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said the discrepancy was serious enough to warrant a closer look at how the count was handled.

Officials found a ballot mismatch during the post-election review

The secretary of state’s office said the problem was uncovered when officials compared the number of voters who checked in with the number of ballots recorded. That review found about 388 more voters than ballots, which prompted a search for the missing memory card.

Once the card was located, its contents were uploaded and the totals changed. Raffensperger said in a statement that the mistake was not just a matter of numbers, but of which candidate was actually leading the election at the time. He said the oversight was unacceptable and that officials intend to determine exactly how it happened.

The episode highlights the checks that election workers use after voting to catch mismatches between check-ins and ballots. In this case, that review led directly to the missing data being found and the race being recounted in effect.

Democrats still appear close to a House majority

Before Greene’s race was corrected, Democrats appeared to have flipped 13 Republican seats while losing two of their own. That would have left them on track to win 92 seats in the 180-member House, enough for a majority and their first control of the chamber in two decades.

With Greene now leading, Democrats could have only a one-seat cushion, depending on the final outcome of the other contested race. A majority in the House requires 91 votes, so even one seat can make a difference in who controls the chamber and how legislation moves.

The revised tally does not erase the possibility of Democratic control, but it makes the margin slimmer than it first appeared on election night.

Another runoff could still affect the final balance

A separate unresolved race may also change the final partisan count. Rep. Mike Cheokas, R-Americus, did not win a majority in a three-way contest for his seat, which means the race moves to a runoff between Cheokas and Democrat Ethan Wolfe.

The independent candidate in that contest has been eliminated, leaving the top two finishers to decide the seat. If Cheokas loses the runoff, Democrats could wind up with a two-seat cushion instead of a one-seat edge. That keeps the final House math unsettled even after Greene’s race shifted back into the Republican column.

The runoff result will therefore matter not just locally, but for the balance of power in the chamber as a whole.

What the correction means for voters in Greene’s district

For residents across Greene’s district, the correction changes who is apparently on track to serve them in the House. The race now reflects a Republican incumbent recovering the lead after election officials located the missing data from one of the county’s voting machines.

The episode also serves as a reminder that unofficial election-night results can change after post-election reviews are completed. In close contests, those reviews may determine not only the winner, but also the makeup of the legislature and the direction of the next session.

Raffensperger’s office has not publicly described any criminal issue tied to the card itself. Instead, the focus has been on the discrepancy, the search for the missing memory card, and the effort to understand how the error occurred.