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LOCA^POLITICS
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 5A
Homeland chief may go; more turnover likely
CUFF OWEN I Associated Press
Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen speaks Sept. 5 to George Washington University’s Center for
Cyber and Homeland Security, in Washington.
BY COLLEEN LONG,
ZEKE MILLER AND
CATHERINE LUCEY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Donald Trump is weighing an
administration-wide shakeup as he
looks to prepare his White House for
divided government, with Home
land Security Secretary Kirstjen
Nielsen expected to be among the
next to go, perhaps this week.
Trump has soured on Nielsen
and White House chief of staff
John Kelly, in part over frustra
tion that his administration is not
doing more to address what he has
called a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico
border, according to two people
with knowledge of the issue. But the
scope of the contemplated changes
is far broader, as Trump gears up
for a wave of Democratic oversight
requests and to devote more effort
to his own re-election campaign.
According to people familiar
with the situation, Trump is dis
cussing replacing Kelly with Vice
President Mike Pence’s chief of
staff, Nick Ayers. Kelly, a retired
Marine general, has been credited
with bringing order and process
to a chaotic West Wing, but he has
fallen out of favor with the presi
dent as well as presidential daugh
ter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law
Jared Kushner.
Ayers, a seasoned campaign
operative, would restore a political-
mindset to the role, but he faces
stiff opposition from some corners
of the West Wing, with some aides
lobbying Trump against the move.
Other changes are afoot, as Com
merce Secretary Wilbur Ross and
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke are
being discussed for replacement.
And in an extraordinary move Tues
day, first lady Melania Trump’s
office called publicly for the firing
of Trump’s deputy national security
adviser, Mira Ricardel.
For all of the talk of churn, Trump
often expresses frustration with
aides and then does not take action.
Talk of Kelly’s exit has percolated
for months and he remains in place.
Nielsen had hoped to complete
one year in the job and leave in
December, but it appeared unlikely
she would last that long, said two
sources. Both people who had
knowledge of the debate spoke to
the AP on condition of anonymity
because they were not authorized
to speak publicly.
Curbing illegal immigration is
Trump’s signature issue — and one
he returns to as a way to rally his
most loyal supporters.
But anyone who takes over at
Homeland Security is likely to run
up against the same problems that
Nielsen faced. The administration
has already tried to clamp down at
the border but those efforts have
been largely thwarted or watered
down because of legal challenges.
Trump also told allies that he
never fully trusted Nielsen, whom
he associated with President
George W. Bush, a longtime foe.
And he told those close to him that
he felt, at times, that her loyalty was
more toward her longtime mentor
— Kelly — than to the president.
Zinke, who faces several ethics
investigations, said in an interview
with The Associated Press on Mon
day that he has spoken in recent
days with Trump, Pence and Kelly
about probes into his leadership
and they remain supportive. He
denied any wrongdoing.
Questions of Nielsen’s job secu
rity are not new. Earlier this year,
she rebuted a New York Times
report that she drafted a resigna
tion letter but did not submit it, after
Trump scolded her at a meeting.
Nielsen has led the sprawling
post-9/11 federal agency since
December. She had been chief of
staff to Kelly when he was Trump’s
first Homeland Security secretary.
A DHS spokesman would not com
ment on whether she was leaving.
VOTE
■ Continued from 1A
that there simply aren’t
enough outstanding ballots to
force a runoff.
In the Monday ruling,
Totenberg ordered the secre
tary of state’s office to estab
lish and publicize a hotline
or website where voters can
check whether their provi
sional ballots were counted
and, if not, the reason why.
She also ordered the sec
retary of state’s office to
review or have county elec
tion authorities review the
eligibility of voters who had
to cast provisional ballots
because of registration issues.
Hall County certified its
election results Monday eve
ning, according to Elections
Director Lori Wurtz. The
county had 124 provisional
ballots that were counted,
and 104 more provisional
ballots were not eligible to be
counted, Wurtz said.
Following the judge’s
order, Hall reviewed its out
standing provisional ballots
Tuesday, but no changes
were warranted, county
spokeswoman Katie Crum
ley said.
Totenberg ruled that Geor
gia must not certify election
results before Friday at 5
p.m. State law sets a Nov. 20
deadline.
State elections direc
tor Chris Harvey testified
last week that the state had
planned to certify the elec
tion results today, a day after
the deadline for counties to
certify their results. He said
that would allow prepara
tions to begin for any run
off contests, including one
already projected in the race
for secretary of state.
Totenberg acted in
response to a lawsuit filed
Nov. 5 by Common Cause
Georgia. The suit accuses
Kemp, the state’s top elec
tions official until he resigned
as secretary of state last
week, of acting recklessly
after vulnerability in Geor
gia’s voter registration data
base was exposed shortly
before the election.
Kemp’s actions increased
the risk that eligible voters
could be illegally removed
from the voter registration
database or have registration
information illegally altered,
the lawsuit says.
Sara Henderson, executive
director of Common Cause
Georgia, said in an emailed
statement that the ruling
helps increase voter confi
dence in elections.
Totenberg’s order doesn’t
change the Tuesday deadline
for counties to certify their
results. The Abrams’ cam
paign lawsuit filed Sunday
asks that the county deadline
to be pushed to Wednesday,
while also requiring that elec
tions authorities count certain
provisional and absentee bal
lots that have been or would
be rejected for “arbitrary
reasons.”
“I am fighting to make sure
our democracy works for and
represents everyone who has
ever put their faith in it,”
Abrams said in a statement.
Her campaign has asked for
a hearing as soon as possible,
given the time sensitivity.
Kemp’s campaign retorted
that Abrams’ latest effort is
“a disgrace to democracy”
and ignores mathematical
realities.
“Clearly, Stacey Abrams
isn’t ready for her 15 minutes
of fame to end,” said Kemp
spokesman Ryan Mahoney.
Unofficial returns show
Kemp with a lead just shy
of 60,000 votes out of more
than 3.9 million cast. Abrams
would need a net gain of
about 21,000 votes to force a
runoff.
The Associated Press has
not called the race.
The Georgia race, along
with Florida’s gubernatorial
and Senate matchups, are
among the final unresolved
contests in a midterm elec
tion cycle in which Demo
crats have won the House,
flipped seven governor’s
seats and reclaimed more
than 300 state legislative
seats in statehouses around
the country.
The GOP maintained its
Senate majority, and could
still expand it. But it’s looking
to hold the governor’s man
sions in Florida and Georgia
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to deny Democrats important
gains in presidential battle
grounds ahead of the 2020
election.
Republicans have held the
governor’s office in Georgia
since 2003 and in Florida
since 1999. President Donald
Trump endorsed both Kemp
and Florida’s GOP nominee
Ron DeSantis in competitive
GOP primaries and then cam
paigning in person for them
ahead of the Nov. 6 election.
Georgia’s interim Secre
tary of State, Robyn Critten
den, directed county officials
Monday to count some provi
sional ballots that had been
rejected because of voters’
failure to give their year of
birth, provided the voter’s
identity and eligibility was
still established.
Republican Gov. Nathan
Deal appointed Crittenden to
replace Kemp, who resigned
last week after declaring vic
tory in the governor’s race.
Kemp called his margin —
50.3 percent of the vote —
“clear and convincing,” but
said he wanted Georgians to
have confidence in the certi
fication process.
The lawsuit says at least
1,095 qualified voters who
cast absentee ballots in
Gwinnett County had them
“arbitrarily and unlawfully
rejected” because of missing
or insufficient information.
Under Georgia law, any
issues causing a voter to cast
a provisional ballot must be
remedied within three days
of the election — Nov. 9 for
this election. The lawsuit
asks that county election offi
cials be required to consider
evidence proving eligibility
through Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Crittenden’s guidance to
the counties noted that the
Nov. 9 deadline for verifying
the eligibility of provisional
ballots was set by state law.
The lawsuit also asked that
provisional ballots cast by a
voter registered in another
county be counted as if the
voter had shown up at the
wrong precinct. The lawsuit
says that of the 1,556 provi
sional ballots Fulton County
reported having rejected by
Nov. 9, nearly 1,000 were dis
qualified because they were
cast by voters whose regis
tration records showed them
registered in another county.
Further, the Abrams’ cam
paign wants any of the court’s
orders in the case to be
applied retroactively to coun
ties that already have certi
fied their returns, meaning
those counties would have to
reopen their counting process
using any new standards and
then submit updated returns
to the state.
Times reporter Megan Reed
contributed to this report.
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