Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is headed into quarantine for possible exposure to COVID-19, one day after announcing the state would conduct a full by-hand recount of its presidential election.
Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs told the Associated Press on Thursday that the secretary’s wife, Tricia Raffensperger, tested positive for the virus that day.
Channel 2 Action News reported that Tricia Raffensperger tested positive for the virus after returning from traveling.
Fuchs told the Associated Press that the secretary would be tested and would quarantine even if his result came back negative. Certain coronavirus testing has been known to return a false negative result sometimes.
Fuchs added that if the result came back positive, she and other members of the secretary’s staff would be tested and would quarantine.
On Wednesday, Raffensperger announced Georgia would conduct a full recount for its presidential election. President-elect Joe Biden is currently leading President Trump in the state by 14,000 votes. Trump’s campaign asked for a recount, but Trump winning the state of Georgia would not be enough to change the projected winner of the election as a whole.
“It will be a heavy lift, but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for our state certification,” the secretary said. “We have all worked hard to bring fair and accurate counts to assure that the will of the voters is reflected in the final count and that every voter will have confidence in the outcome, whether their candidate won or lost.”
The president has not conceded the election thus far. He and his campaign made unsubstantiated accusations of widespread voter fraud and voting irregularities in battleground states where Biden was projected to win.
The recount is required to begin by 9 a.m. on Friday and be completed by Wednesday night.
