World

Georgia to Launch Hand Recount of Ballots in US Presidential Race, Secretary of State Says

The Trump campaign has been pressing the Secretary of State to initiate the immediate recount before the results of the US vote are finalised. When launched, this will be the first time the state resorts to hand recount procedure.
Sputnik

Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has announced that the state will be launching a full hand recount of the election results in the state today.

"With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county. This will help build confidence. It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvas all at once. It will be a heavy lift but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for our state certification", Raffensperger told reporters.

The official emphasised that his office will continue to investigate every incidence of illegal voting, including double voting, felon voting or people voting out of state.

"We haven’t found any widespread fraud. We will investigate every single case that voters bring to us”, he said.

Earlier, the Trump team sent a letter to the secretary of state to probe voting irregularities they believe occurred in Georgia.

"The Georgia Republican Party and The Donald J. Trump for President Campaign daily continue to receive hundreds of reports of voting discrepancies and errors statewide. Millions of Georgians doubt the process for counting ballots in this state", the letter stated.

Biden is ahead of Trump in the state of Georgia by a slim margin. The former vice president has 49.52 percent of votes, whereas Trump has 49.24 percent.

Georgia has 16 electors which will later cast their vote in the Electoral College for the winner of the state's popular vote.

All major US media have already declared Biden the winner. President Donald Trump, however, argues that the race is not over yet, claiming the election was fraudulent and that his campaign was going to begin asserting its claim to victory in court.

Discuss