Audit, Full-Hand Recount Of Votes Ordered In Georgia
Georgia will conduct an “audit and full hand recount” of votes in the Peach State for the 2020 election.
“Georgia’s secretary of state has announced a full hand recount of the presidential race; Biden leads by about 14,000,” Zeke Miller, White House correspondent of The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's secretary of state has announced a full hand recount of the presidential race; Biden leads by about 14,000.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) November 11, 2020
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the manual hand recount will “help build confidence” in the election result as Democratic candidate Joe Biden currently leads the historically-Republican state by about 14,000 votes against President Donald Trump.
This will also clear worries of voting irregularities and mismanagement of the state’s elections last week.
“This will help build confidence. It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvas all at once,” Raffensperger told a press conference.
“It will be a heavy lift,” he added, noting that the audit will require a full by-hand recount of votes in each of Georgia’s 159 counties.
Raffensperger: “Every legal vote will count”
Georgia Secretary Of State Brad Raffensperger Announces Full Hand Recount Of 2020 Presidential Votes https://t.co/Dsc43pkBEX
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 11, 2020
Raffensperger said the presidential race in the state remains “too close to call” and the current margin of votes between Biden and President Trump is at 14,111.
Last week, Raffensperger already said the Georgia election could head to a recount due to the neck to neck fight between Trump and Biden.
“Right now, Georgia remains too close to call,” Raffensperger said last Friday. “With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia.”
“The stakes are high, and emotions are high on all sides. We will not let those debates distract us from our work. We will get it right, and we’ll defend the integrity of our election,” he added, maintaining that amidst allegations of some voting irregularities, the process in Georgia is “transparent to observers.”
Raffensperger also said his office “has been investigating” and “will continue to investigate” all reports of voting anomalies.
President Trump has refused to concede the election yet pending the outcome of several lawsuits his campaign filed in key battleground states over claims of voting irregularities and fraud — which could mean that ballots could still be counted and recounted.
Trump wins Alaska; adds 3 electoral votes
Meanwhile, President Trump was awarded three more electoral votes on Wednesday after Decision Desk HQ called Alaska for the incumbent Republican president. On Tuesday, they also called North Carolina for President Trump raising his electoral votes by another 15.
Decision Desk HQ Projects Trump (R) Has Won The State Of AK And Its 3 Electoral Votes
Race Called At 11-11 8:22 AM EST
All Results: https://t.co/8VxbhWIELL
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 11, 2020
Despite pending legal battles, several media outlets such as CNN, The Associated Press, NBC News, ABC News and Fox News already proclaimed Biden over the weekend as the winner of the presidential contest.
President Trump said, however, that the “election is far from over.”
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed,” the incumbent Republican president said.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.”
“Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media,” he added.
