An explosive allegation rocks the election in Georgia.  Whether true or false, there will be consequences.

The office of the secretary of state of Georgia, Brian Kemp, has issued two official notices of a claimed attempted hack of the state's online voter registration system late Saturday, and is investigating further, having notified the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.  It should be noted that the current SOS, Kemp, is running for governor as the GOP nominee.

The first notice reads:

After a failed attempt to hack the state's voter registration system, the Secretary of State's office opened an investigation into the Democratic Party of Georgia on the evening of Saturday, November 3, 2018.  Federal partners, including the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation, were immediately alerted.

"While we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, I can confirm that the Democratic Party of Georgia is under investigation for possible cyber crimes," said Candice Broce, Press Secretary.  "We can also confirm that no personal data was breached and our system remains secure."

The second notice adds:

The Secretary of State's Office issues the following update:

"We opened an investigation into the Democratic Party of Georgia after receiving information from our legal team about failed efforts to breach the online voter registration system and My Voter Page.  We are working with our private sector vendors and investigators to review data logs.  We have contacted our federal partners and formally requested the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate these possible cyber crimes.  The Secretary of State's office will release more information as it becomes available."

The Georgia Democratic Party vehemently denies the charge:

"This is yet another example of abuse of power by an unethical Secretary of State.  To be very clear, Brian Kemp's scurrilous claims are 100 percent false, and this so-called investigation was unknown to the Democratic Party of Georgia until a campaign operative in Kemp's official office released a statement this morning.  This political stunt from Kemp just days before the election is yet another example of why he cannot be trusted and should not be overseeing an election in which he is also a candidate for governor.  It is also a fact that Brian Kemp is the last person who can be trusted on cyber security given his record of leaking the personal information and social security numbers of six million Georgians.  11th hour, cynical ploys come as no surprise from Brian Kemp, a man who raided the offices of organizations who register people to vote and had a woman arrested for helping her blind father cast his ballot. Brian Kemp is desperate to save his failing campaign, and it's likely we'll see even more of his abuses of power as the election nears, but Georgians will keep working hard, knocking on doors, making phone calls, and voting to make sure he doesn't get a promotion."

There is no way at all to know the substance of these charges, but if a phony request were made to the FBI as a political stunt, there would be serious consequences, a factor that makes me suspect that the indicators of an attempted hack are genuine.

Hat tip: Breitbart