Voter suppression key issue in Georgia governor\'s debate

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS, SAYING: "Under secretary Kemp more people have lost the right to vote in the state of Georgia.

They've been purged.

They've been suppressed and they have been scared." Accusations of voter suppression dominating Georgia's debate for governor.

As Democratic nominee Stacy Abrams and GOP candidate Brian Kemp - locked in a razor-thin race - squared off.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS, SAYING: "This is a man that had someone arrested for helping her blind father cast a vote.

He raided the offices of organizations to stop them from registering voters." Voting - a key issue in the race with questions swirling over Kemp's track record as Georgia's Secretary of State, overseeing elections.

A recent report showed his office cancelled over 600,000 voter registrations since 2017 alone.

And he's being sued after an investigation found that more than 50,000 voter registration applications are sitting in his office "on hold" and not being processed.

More than 2/3 of the registrations were for Black Georgians.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR, STACEY ABRAMS, SAYING: "Whether it's 53,000, 5,000 or five are being denied the right to vote then we are not doing our jobs as guardians of the post." (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR, BRIAN KEMP, SAYING: "Voters should look at the numbers and know that this is all a distraction from Mrs. Abram's extreme agenda." Kemp came back swinging, bringing immigration into the mix.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR, BRIAN KEMP, SAYING: "In a recent video you called on illegals to vote for you in this election OI was actually shocked had to watch twice, it clearly shows that you were asking for undocumented folks to be part of your winning strategy.

So my question is why are you asking people to break the law in this election." The closely contested race is being watched nationwide for historical impact.

If Abrams wins, she would be the first black woman in the U.S. to become governor.