Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced in a press conference Wednesday that Georgia will conduct a full hand recount for the presidential election.
In announcing the recount, Raffensperger emphasized the closeness of the race and the need to bring confidence to the election results:
The next step in the current election process is getting the final county certifications in. We’ll then move to the risk-limiting audit or RLA. At 1pm today, I will make the off designation of which race will be the subject of the RLA. At that time I will designate that the RLA will be the presidential race. 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 recanvas all at once. It will be a heavy lift, but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for a state certification. Many of these workers will be working plenty of overtime. We have all worked hard to bring fair and accurate counts to ensure 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 announcement follows after two Republican senators from Georgia called on Raffensperger to resign, according to CBS news. Senator Kelly Loeffler remarked, “The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Georgians are outraged, and rightly so. We have been clear from the beginning: every legal vote cast should be counted. Any illegal vote must not. And there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. This isn’t hard. This isn’t partisan. This is American.”
Raffensperger, also a Republican, responded, “I know emotions are running high. Politics are involved in everything right now. If I was Senator Perdue, I’d be irritated I was in a runoff. And both senators and I are all unhappy with the potential outcome for our president. But I am the duly elected secretary of state. One of my duties involves helping to run elections for all Georgia voters. I have taken that oath, and I will execute that duty and follow Georgia law.” Raffensperger has not revealed any plans for resignation despite the calls.
As of noon on Wednesday, the Associated Press has former Vice President Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump in Georgia by only 0.3 percent of the vote and less than 15,000 votes.
