State Launches Investigation into District 28 Race in Habersham County

The Secretary of State’s office has launched an investigation into the results of the District 28 election in Habersham County.

This morning, WNEG News obtained a copy of the Secretary of State’s investigation notice that indicated the investigation had to do with a districting issue.

Secretary of State Press Secretary Candice Broce tells WNEG News no other information on the investigation will be released until the investigation is over.

A report on NowHabersham.com, however, says there is a question as to whether some voters received the correct ballot for their district during the Georgia General Primary Election, but Broce will not confirm that.

“Citizens’ right to vote is a foundational principle of our country. Having the correct ballot, with the correct candidates listed on the ballot, should be something all citizens expect and demand,” Rep. Dan Gasaway said in an email sent to WNEG News this morning. “I have heard from several who received the wrong ballots. This happened with absentee ballots in the 2014 race. I was told the Habersham election board had cleaned this up.”

WNEG News placed a call to Laurel Ellison with the Habersham County Board of Elections and Registrations office asking for a comment, but she has not returned our call.

Broce said she does not know how long the investigation will take.

Habersham County is divided between State House District 10 and State House District 28.

District 28 covers a part of Habersham County east of Highway 365 to the Stephens County line and includes all of Mt. Airy and a small portion of Cornelia in the southern section of Habersham as well as up 441 to part of Tallulah Falls at the Rabun County line.

In Habersham County, Gasaway lost to Republican challenger Chris Erwin in the May 22nd Georgia General Primary.  Both candidates are Republicans. There was no Democratic candidate.

Erwin won over Gasaway with 57.96% of the votes or 655 votes to Gasaway’s 475 votes.

District wide, Erwin won over Gasaway by just 67 votes, taking Banks and Habersham counties but losing Stephens County.

According to the document sent by the Secretary of State’s office, the investigation was launched Wednesday, May 30th.

We also reached out to Chris Erwin this morning.

Ewin told WNEG News he was not aware of the investigation and would not comment until he had more information.

WNEG News will continue to follow this story and bring you more updates as they become available.