Update 11/13/2020 3:00PM EST.
Joe Biden is projected to win Georgia, adding 16 electoral votes to his victory. The President-elect is the first Democrat to win the state in 28 years.
Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, announced on Wednesday that the state would be conducting a complete, by-hand recount of each ballot cast in the Presidential race between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump.
Original Story published 11/12/2020t 9:30PM EST.
What We Know:
- Raffensperger, a Republican, announced that all 5 million ballots cast for president will be recounted by hand, despite Biden leading Trump by 14,000 votes. “With the margin being so close, it will require a full by hand recount in each county,” said Raffensperger at a news conference in Atlanta. “This will help build confidence.” Trump’s trail behind Biden is “unlikely” to be overtaken in a recount, according to a previous statement by Raffensperger.
- This announcement comes after the Secretary of State had been receiving demands from Trump’s supporters and Trump’s campaign to recount the votes, along with calls for resignation and accusations of fraud. Two Senate seats in Georgia are headed towards run-off elections in January 2021, where incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will fight for reelection. Loeffler and Perdue have also called for Raffensperger’s resignation, claiming he “has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections”. Raffensperger claims that the decision to recount the votes was not influenced by Trump’s campaign.
- The recount is expected to be completed by Georgia’s certification deadline on November 20th. Raffensperger says the county vote certifications are due by Friday, and so far, 97 of 159 counties have already certified their results, according to CNN. This process, which will be funded by the state, is very expensive and requires a lot of overtime, says Raffensperger.
- Once the recount is completed, if a candidate still remains within the 0.5% margin, they could request another recount, yet it will be completed by a scanner rather than repeating a by-hand recount.
- Georgia, along with Wisconsin, is one of the states where recounts have been ordered due to claims of fraud and deceit, despite no evidence supporting the claims. The Trump campaign has also filed several lawsuits in key states based on these claims yet many have already been dismissed by the courts.
Biden, who has already reached 270 electoral votes without Georgia’s results, would add 16 additional votes if he maintains his lead over Trump and wins the state.
