Georgia Secretary of State: There Will Be A Recount; 9K Military Ballots Still Outstanding
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Friday that the state is set to recount its votes as the election results in the Peach State remain “extremely close.”
After President Donald Trump maintained his edge in the state over the past days, Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, overtook his lead in the historically Republican state.
The former Obama vice president currently leads by 1,100 against President Trump.
Georgia Secretary of State:
“There will be a recount in Georgia."pic.twitter.com/UKrY0SQrkr
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 6, 2020
“Right now, Georgia remains too close to call,” Raffensperger said Friday morning.“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.
Georgia’s Secretary of State noted that aside from the neck to neck fight between Trump and Biden over the estimated 5 million votes that has been cast, there are 8,890 military ballots that will be counted if they are returned by the end of November 4.
He said the margin for the Georgia election will only be a “few thousand.”
“The focus for our office and for the county election officials for now remains on making sure that every legal is counted and recorded accurately,”Raffensperger added.
President Trump tweeted on Friday: “Where are the missing military ballots in Georgia? What happened to them?”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324768077939118083
Transparent counting in Georgia
Amidst fraud allegations in other key battleground states, Raffensperger maintained that in Georgia the process is transparent to observers.
“In some states, there are complaints about monitors not being allowed to watch the count. In Georgia, this process is and will remain open and transparent to monitors,” he told a news conference Friday morning.
“If any member of the public raises legitimate concerns, we’ll investigate those. We are committed to doing anything and everything to maintaining trust for every Georgian, regardless of partisan preference,” he added.
The state’s voting system implementation manager, Gabriel Sterling, said although there are no “widespread irregularities” seen, the state wanted to make sure that the results are unquestionable and that officials are investigating any and all “credible assertions” of voting irregularities.
He added that with such a narrow margin, a small issue “can impact the entire election.”
Sterling noted that the recount could be done in a week but that it could not be allowed until the election is certified.
! Georgia Secretary of State: "There will be a recount in Georgia."
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 6, 2020
Gabriel Sterling GA Voting System Implementation Manager says the margin in Georgia will come down to a number of votes that is like the size of a high school gym.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 6, 2020
CBS Atlanta said with 100% of precincts reporting the final result of the Georgia election remains “too close to call.” So far, Democratic challenger Joe Biden is currently leading with 2,449, 377 votes, giving him just a 917 advantage over President Trump’s 2,448, 454 votes tally.
Both Trump and Biden had 49.4% of the vote, while Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen gathered 61,380 votes which is 1.24% of the total tally.
Separately, NBC News Decision Desk director John Lapinski said race in Georgia “not callable right now.”
“It is just gonna be so close. Biden may go up by a little bit but it doesn’t meet our standards. It’s a race that’s gonna be I think the check mark won’t probably go in there for a couple of weeks.”
