Georgia to recount election ballots manually following Biden’s growing lead

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Georgia must have a thorough recount of poll ballots between Joe Biden and President Trump, State Secretary Brad Raffensperger announced.
• The secretary, a Republican, said the Nov.20 election results certification deadline would be met as the recount will be conducted in cooperation with county officials.
• NBC News reports that Biden leads by over 14,000 votes out of almost 5 million votes cast in the state.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that Georgia is to have a full statewide election ballots recount in the race between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, 46th President-elect.

During the presser, Raffensperger said the difference was so close that it calls for a manual recount on each county.

The secretary, a GOP, added that they need to meet the Nov.20 deadline for ballot certifying, and they would work with county officials to achieve that, saying that they would make the most of the remaining time they have.

While Biden was not projected to win on the Peach State, his lead against President Trump was already 14,000 out of around 5 million total votes cast, as reported by NBC News.

Raffensperger had earlier sent a message that a manual ballot verification will probably happen in Georgia, which, by tradition, always pick Republican presidential candidates. Earlier this week,  GOP Rep. Doug Collins and Trump supporters urged the Georgia official for a manual recount.

Raffensperger explained that the audit would help create trust, reiterating that the process will be done in time with the deadline.

Following the Nov. 3 election day, Trump claimed the win in Georgia and other states, despite not having a basis.  Now that Biden will likely get over 270 electoral votes needed to seal the presidency, Trump’s camp has already called for recounts in states such as Wisconsin and Georgia.

The camp also hurled a flood of electoral fraud allegations even there’s no evidence. Lawyers of  Trump’s campaign have filed court cases in several states associated with their claims. So far, many of these cases have been scrapped by Judges.

Falsely saying he won the election, Trump has declined the idea of conceding to Biden. The power transition from Trump to the new administration will not be set in motion until the General Services Administration verifies a winner.

Raffensperger said during a presser that he would proclaim the presidential election in Georgia as subject to audit, noting that they would count everything.

He added that the process would not be as simple, and a comprehensive manual ballot count will be required considering how close the votes were.

On Monday, the state’s two Republican Senators and close Trump allies, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, asked for Raffensperger’s resignation, saying that there are too many election disasters in Georgia this year.

Source: CNBC