Gabriel Sterling calls the Seminole County card a single human error and says the outcome reflects voters' intent
Gabriel SterlingFormer chief operating officer and deputy secretary of state in the Georgia Secretary of State's office, replying on X
Replying on X to a post that called elections careless, Sterling says the election was among the smoothest ever, that the Seminole County issue was caught in canvassing, that it involved a single memory card in a close race, and that the outcome is what voters intended.
Responding to
The Seminole County Board of Elections did not upload a memory card containing Election Day results into the county's election management system, leaving about 388 ballots out of the county's reported count until the Secretary of State's office flagged the gap.
“This election in Georgia and nationwide was the smoothest, most well run one likely ever. This issue was discovered in canvassing which is in part why it is done to get to certification. There are over 10,000 election jurisdictions, with nearly 30k polling locations. In GA, nearly 2,600. This was a single memory card. It was a close election. Humans again are always the weakest parts of the system. That is training people and robust processes are so necessary. The outcome is what the voters intended and that is the most important point here.”
Original post
Original post
Where this statement fits
Raffensperger says Seminole County's failure to upload a memory card reversed a Georgia House race; county says no card was missing
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on November 6 that Seminole County had not uploaded a memory card holding about 388 Election Day votes, and that adding them put Republican Rep. Gerald Greene 262 votes ahead of Democrat Harry James in House District 154. The county's elections supervisor says no card was missing and that the county's election software had not finished processing the last precinct's card.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Gabriel Sterling, a former chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State's office, replies on X to a user who called elections careless. He says the Seminole County issue was found in canvassing, calls it a single memory card in a close election and says the outcome is what voters intended.
Original post
About this source
Gabriel Sterling posts on X that post-election canvassing found that a memory card of Election Day votes had not been uploaded from Seminole County, that it has now been uploaded, and that Rep. Gerald Greene is winning a race he had trailed since election night. The post quotes a Greg Bluestein post reporting the update from the Secretary of State's office.
Before the quotation
Sterling replies to a post saying elections are haphazard and careless and that cheating is easy when elections are sloppy. He opens by calling it an ill-informed comment.
After the quotation
On November 6, Sterling had posted that post-election canvassing found a memory card of Election Day votes from Seminole County had not been uploaded, that it had since been uploaded, and that Greene was now winning the race.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Seminole County's handling of its November 3, 2026 Election Day count, which left about 388 ballots out of the reported results until the Secretary of State's office flagged the gap on November 6. Sterling acknowledges a human error in the county's count but downplays it as a single memory card in a well-run election that canvassing caught, and says the corrected outcome reflects voters' intent.
- Recorded on
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- People and groups discussed
- Seminole County Board of Elections
More from this case
Read the full caseHarry James says citizens lose when the election process does not work as it should
“It's not Harry James that loses. It's the citizens ... when our democracy doesn't work the way it's supposed to”Read statement
Ben Adida says forgetting a memory card happens because tabulators are not networked
“Ballot tabulators scan paper ballots and store the data on memory cards. They're not connected to the Internet or to each other, so forgetting a memory card happens.”Read statement
Seminole County elections supervisor says no memory card was missing
“There was NO memory card "discovered," "missing," or "found". All precinct card chain of custody protocols were followed, and all memory cards were accounted for by the Seminole County Board of Elections on election night.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Gabriel Sterling calls the Seminole County card a single human error and says the outcome reflects voters' intent". First published: 2026-11-09. Last updated: 2026-11-09. https://disputeindex.com/events/8392-replying-on-x-to-a-post-that-called