Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced on Friday that the state is moving toward a recount after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden pulled ahead by a margin of fewer than 2,000 votes.
“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,” 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.”
With 99% of the expected votes reported, Biden squeezed ahead of President Trump by just 1,579 votes, a margin far less than 0.5% of the total vote.
Secretary Brad Raffensperger: “There will be a recount in Georgia.” pic.twitter.com/V3hGnHxsHF
— CBS46 (@cbs46) November 6, 2020
Georgia has no rules regarding an automatic recount, but a candidate can request a recount if the margin of victory falls below that half-point margin. Election officials can also announce a recount if they deem it necessary.
“The final tally in Georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country,” Raffensperger said. “We will get it right, and we will defend the integrity of our elections.”
As of the secretary’s announcement, there were 4,169 votes remaining to be counted.
Voting implementation manager Gabriel Sterling also said during the press briefing, however, that the total number of ballots could still increase. Georgians are allowed to “cure” ballots, or fix errors on submitted ballots. Voters whose ballots were received on Election Day have until Friday to cure their ballots if, for example, their ballot fails to pass a signature verification.
“There are still an unknowable amount of ballots that will be available to be counted at some point,” Sterling said.
As the Trump campaign ramps up its legal battles in key contested states, Sterling said that Georgia has yet to see any evidence of “widespread irregularities” but added that they are investigating everything given the razor-thin margins in the state.
“We are not seeing widespread irregularities,” Sterling said. “With a narrow margin, little, small things can make a difference. So, everything’s going to have to be investigated to protect the integrity of the vote.”
Raffensperger reemphasized his point Friday afternoon during another press conference.
“Out of the approximately 5 million votes cast, we will have a margin of a few thousand,” Raffensperger said. “As we are closing in on a final count, we can begin to look toward our next steps. With a margin that small, there will be, likely, a recount.”
