(CNN) Former Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Sunday that while her opponent, Republican Brian Kemp, was the legal victor of the state governor's race, she would not call him the legitimate winner.

Abrams told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that she thought there was deliberate interference in the election, saying "it began eight years ago with the systematic disenfranchisement of more than a million voters. It continued with the underfunding and disinvestment in polling places, in training and in the management of the county delivery of services. And I think it had its pinnacle in this race."

"So yes, there was a deliberate and intentional disinvestment and, I think, destruction of the administration of elections in the state of Georgia," Abrams added.

The Georgia race has stoked a fierce new front in the national battle over voting rights and access to the polls. Kemp, who as Georgia's recently resigned secretary of state promoted and enforced some of the nation's most restrictive voting laws, was accused repeatedly before and during the campaign of seeking to suppress the minority vote.

Abrams on Friday ended her bid to become the first African American woman elected to lead a state. The announcement followed more than a week of post-election legal maneuvering from her campaign and allies, who sought to find enough votes to reduce Kemp's lead and force a December 4 runoff. In a fiery speech , Abrams announced plans for a "major federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia for the gross mismanagement of this election and to protect future elections from unconstitutional actions."

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