Apparent presidential election winner Joe Biden reportedly doubled his margin in Georgia on Friday.
As of Friday afternoon, Biden’s lead in the state had increased to about 4,200 votes ahead of President Trump, who led the former vice president by hundreds of thousands of votes earlier this week, according to Bloomberg.
Biden’s lead came as the state continued counting mail-in, provisional, military, and overseas ballots. His previous lead on Friday morning was just over 1,500 votes.
Georgia is among a handful of states that are still counting ballots. It is considered a critical state for both candidates and has 16 electoral votes.
The narrow margin between the two candidates will lead to a recount, Georgia’s secretary of state announced on Friday.
The state has no rules regarding an automatic recount, but a candidate can request one if the margin of victory falls below the half-point margin. Election officials are also eligible to announce a recount.
“The focus for our office and for the county election officials for now remains on making sure that every legal vote is counted and reported accurately,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “As we are closing in on a final count, we can begin to look at our next steps. With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia.”
Georgia is among a handful of states Trump prematurely claimed victory in earlier this week when he held a strong lead.
Biden has 264 electoral votes, compared to Trump’s 214, according to the Associated Press. Biden would only need six more votes to secure a path to the presidency. The Trump campaign has started to embark on several legal battles in multiple states, where it said the electoral process might have been rigged or unfair in his challenger’s favor.
