Trump Campaign Requests Second Georgia Recount
The Trump campaign on Saturday requested a second recount of Georgia’s presidential election results after an initial hand recount confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s razor-thin lead.
“Today, the Trump campaign filed a petition for recount in Georgia,” the campaign said in a statement. “We are focused on ensuring that every aspect of Georgia State Law and the U.S. Constitution are followed so that every legal vote is counted.”
The second recount requested by the Trump campaign would be conducted by machine, rather than by hand as the first recount was done.
“Because the margin is still less than 0.5 percent, the President can request a recount after certification of the results. That recount will be conducted by rescanning all paper ballots,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a statement when the hand recount was completed on Friday.
“Georgia’s historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state’s new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported results,” he added.
Since the election, a litany of various glitches and discrepancies has prompted an outcry from Republicans against Raffensperger’s handling of the state’s election process.
Joe Biden’s previous lead of about 14,000 votes over President Trump in the former Republican stronghold was shaved down last week after two counties discovered thousands of previously uncounted ballots, the majority of which favored Trump. Fayette County discovered 2,755 votes Tuesday that had not initially been counted. A day earlier, Floyd County found 2,600 previously uncounted votes.
The final results of the hand recount of about five million ballots cast in the general election this month showed Biden beating Trump in the state by 12,284 votes or .26 percent. Georgia certified the final results on Friday, the deadline to do so, making the former vice president the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
