Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that the state would conduct a hand recount of the presidential race.
The goal is to have the recount completed by November 20, the deadline for certification. President-Elect Joe Biden has a 14,111-vote lead.
“With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county,” Raffensperger said during a press conference. “This will help build confidence. It will be an audit, a recount and a re-canvas 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.”
The hand count goes beyond the “scan” recount required by law.
“This race has national significant, national importance,” he said. “We get that.”
The Trump campaign has been requesting the hand recount, though it’s unlikely to shift enough votes to erase Biden’s lead.
Raffensperger, a Republican, has become a recent subject of GOP ire, as Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and David Perdue (R-GA) called for his resignation earlier this week due to unspecified allegations of “mismanagement and lack of transparency.”
He brushed off the piling on from the senators, Trump campaign and state Republicans, acknowledging that “emotions are running high” but flatly refusing to resign.
He also shared his doubt that there was enough illegal voting to flip the state red.
“Does it rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia’s electoral votes? That is unlikely,” he said.
The Trump campaign has been desperately searching for evidence of massive fraud to somehow reverse the election’s result, but have watched their flimsy lawsuits be laughed out of court.
While every major network and the Associated Press have called the election for Biden, some pliant Republicans are going along with Trump’s tantrum and pretending that there’s still doubt in who won.
Biden laughed off the Republican charade at a Tuesday press conference, calling Trump’s refusal to concede “an embarrassment” but ultimately “not of much consequence” to his team’s transition plans which are already underway.
In a fit of pique, the Trump administration has refused to unlock the transition funds Biden is entitled to, and withheld his access to classified information.
“How can I say this tactfully,” Biden said carefully. “I think it will not help the President’s legacy.”
