Broader worries about the handling of provisional ballots in Georgia and the security of a

computer system led a federal judge to delay certification of the state’s results. On Friday, the
Democrat Stacey Abrams ended her bid for governor in the race against Mr. Kemp, while
denouncing what she called “systemic disenfranchisement, disinvestment and incompetence.”

Legal actions were initiated in Florida, where close margins forced recounts in the races for
Senate and governor, and questions arose about whether eligible mail-in ballots were improperly
rejected. Election officials were to conclude manual recounts by Sunday.

A lawyer watched as technicians sorted through ballots in Riviera Beach, Fla., on the
Saturday after Election Day. Close margins forced recounts in the state.
Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

Elsewhere, accusations of voter suppression flared. Civil rights lawyers sued Pennsylvania,
claiming its requirement that absentee ballots be received on the Friday before Election Day cost
thousands of people a chance to vote. In Kansas, where a court recently struck down a law
requiring proof of citizenship for new voters, many mistakenly believed they still could not
register without a birth certificate, according to Democratic voting organizers.

“I think the law did what it was intended to do,” said Johnny Dunlap, the Democratic Party
chairman in Kansas’s Ford County, “and that was to discourage people from voting.”

With the nation polarized along party lines and many contests fiercely fought, tight races threw a
harsh light on weaknesses in the system, fueling partisan accusations and legal challenges.