Georgia Secretary Of State Brad Raffensperger Orders Hand Recount Of Presidential Votes After Pressure From GOP

On Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) announced that the state would conduct a hand recount of votes for President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden. Biden won Georgia by a very slight, 14,000 vote margin.

Trump has been promoting the unsubstantiated claim that he lost battleground states, and the election as a whole, due to voter fraud crafted by the Democratic Party.

“With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county. This will 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,” said Raffensperger at a press conference.

Raffensperger has received heavy pressure from Republicans to recount Georgia’s votes, as Georgia surprisingly turned blue towards the end of the election. Georgia has to submit their state certification by November 20. Republican Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both facing a runoff election in January, have been extremely critical of Raffensperger.

“Earlier today Senators Loeffler and Perdue called for my resignation. Let me start by saying that is not going to happen,” said Raffensperger on Monday. “The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”

Even if a recount in Georgia made Trump the state’s winner, it would not do anything to effect Biden’s election to the presidency. Biden still will would have enough electoral votes to keep his position, and Trump would not earn enough electoral votes from Georgia to gain any lead over Biden.