Georgia Secretary Of State Announces Manual Recount Of Presidential Election Ballots

On Wednesday, Georgia’s secretary of state announced a manual recount of the millions of ballots cast in the 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden currently leads President Donald Trump in the state by more than 14,000 votes.

According to CNN, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger faces criticism from Georgia Republicans and President Trump’s campaign amid unfounded accusations of voting irregularities and mismanagement.

“With the margin being so close, it will require a full by hand recount in each county,” Raffensperger said at a news conference. “This will help build confidence.”

The secretary of state said he would officially designate the presidential race as the focus of the risk-limiting audit. The recount is expected to begin by the end of the week. All of Georgia’s 159 counties will conduct a manual by hand-count of each vote.

“This will help build confidence. It will be an audit, a recount, and a recanvass all at once,” Raffensperger said. “It will be a heavy lift.”

He said that once the results are certified on November 20, a candidate within the 0.5% margin will still be able to request a “recount.” If a recount is requested, it would be a “scanned recount” done by machines and not by hand.

Georgia has not yet projected a winner in the election and is listed as too close to call. Raffensperger says that Biden’s lead in the state is “unlikely” change drastically in a recount. 

Biden is the projected winner of the presidential election. Trump has refused to concede the race, instead filing legal challenges in several states and claims the election was “stolen” from him. There is no evidence any voter fraud took place.