Human Error in Georgia Changes Leader in 154th District

A memory card that wasn’t uploaded in Seminole County, Georgia, changed who’s leading the race for the 154th District in the state House of Representatives. Republican Gerald Greene, of Cuthbert, was trailing Democrat Harry James by 58 votes. With the votes added, he’s now leading by 262, according to the office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The results haven’t been certified yet.

• Seminole officials didn’t upload a memory card to the county’s election management system, and a post-election review detected the discrepancy.
• With those votes, Greene goes from trailing James by 58 votes to leading by 262, according to Raffensperger’s office.
• If the result holds, Democrats would have 92 seats, just one more than the 91 needed for a majority.

Why it matters: in a 180-seat chamber, a single district can decide the majority margin. Additionally, the case shows how post-voting checks can correct a loading error before certification.

What happened in Seminole County

According to The Center Square, Seminole election officials didn’t upload a memory card to the county’s election management system. A post-election review detected «approximately 388 more registered voters showing up at polling places on election day than the number of ballots reported as cast,» according to the Secretary of State’s statement cited by WCTV and Capitol Beat.

The Secretary of State’s office alerted the county election board, and the memory card turned up. On Friday, November 6, the office’s website showed 10,193 votes for Greene and 9,932 for James, a difference of 261, according to Capitol Beat, which notes that the figures may vary slightly. The district covers parts of nine counties in southwest Georgia.

Raffensperger stated in the statement: «Georgia’s electoral safeguards are designed to identify discrepancies, and that’s exactly what these checks did. Our office identified a significant discrepancy, alerted county officials, and discovered that election results weren’t properly uploaded. This oversight not only affected the numbers: it changed who was leading in an election. That’s unacceptable, and we intend to find out exactly how it happened.»

The investigation will seek to determine how the memory card was overlooked, whether mandatory procedures were followed, and what corrective measures are needed. The Seminole election board didn’t respond to WCTV on Friday.

What it means for the Democratic majority

According to The Center Square, Democrats appear to have won the majority in the state House for the first time since 2004. They had 93 seats before this change. If the result in the 154th District holds, they’d be left with 92, one seat more than the 91 needed for a majority, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Capitol Beat.

To understand what may change with the Democratic advance in the states, check our analysis.

Another race remains open. In the 151st District, Republican Mike Cheokas, of Americus, got 47.88%; Democrat Ethan Wolfe, 40.85%; and independent Travis Lockhart, 11.26%. Georgia law requires more than 50% to avoid a runoff, so that contest will be decided in a new vote, according to The Center Square.

What’s next

Counties must certify their results by Monday, November 9, at the latest. The Secretary of State has until November 20 to certify them, according to The Center Square. Until then, the figures for the 154th District remain unofficial.

Meanwhile, Raffensperger’s office continues its investigation into how the memory card was overlooked and what corrections will be applied. If you live in the district, you can check updated results on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website and review certified figures when they’re published.

Sources: The Center Square; WCTV; Capitol Beat; AJC. Data consulted on November 7, 2026.