Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Secretary of State, has announced a hand recount and recanvass of the state’s presidential election results.
Raffensperger: ‘It Will Be An Audit, A Recount, And A Recanvass All At Once’
As the counting of votes in Georgia is continuing, former Vice President Joe Biden maintains a slim lead over President Donald Trump, according to current official results. However, with the race being so close, and allegations of voter fraud running rampant, Secretary of State Raffensperger announced a full recount and recanvass.
“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 recanvass 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 said.
HOLD. THE. LINE. https://t.co/7DEN3zz4df
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“When you have 5 million votes and the margin is so close, 14,000, if we pulled out 10,000 votes, all of the sudden you could say, ‘Well this is the person that won.’ You pull out 100,000, it says this person won. You pull out a million, this person won,” Raffensperger continued.
“And that’s why mathematically you actually have to do a full hand-by-hand recount of all because the margin is so close,” he explained.
There is a slight difference between a recount and a recanvass, which will both take place in Georgia. A recanvass involves county officials ensuring that vote totals sent off were correct as reported, while a recount involves the full counting of every vote again, which in this case will be done by hand.
‘Every Instance Of Illegal Voting’ Will Be Investigated
Raffensperger, a Republican, had faced calls to resign from fellow GOP Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for failing to deliver “honest and transparent elections.”
“We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out – even when it’s in your own party,” Perdue and Loeffler said. “There have been too many failures in Georgia elections this year and the most recent election has shined a national light on the problems.”
“While blame certainly lies elsewhere as well, the buck ultimately stops with the Secretary of State,” concluded the senators, each of whom are facing close runoff elections in Georgia in January.
Raffensperger attempted to rebut their remarks at the press conference.
“The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me,” he said, maintaining he would not resign.
He claimed that electoral staff had actually done a good job, but added that “every instance of illegal voting,” would be investigated.