According to CBS Atlanta, with 100% of precincts reporting and the vast majority of the ballots counted in the state of Georgia, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has amassed 2,449, 377 votes, giving him a 917 vote lead over President Trump, who has amassed 2,448, 454 votes, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen gathered 61,380 votes. Both Trump and Biden received 49.4% of the vote.
According to the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger at 8:15 a.m. on Friday, approximately 8,197 ballots remained to be counted, dispersed this way: Floyd County: 444; Gwinnett County: 4,800: Laurens County: 1,797, and Taylor County: 456. The office added, “An additional approximately 8,900 military and overseas absentee ballots have been sent out to requesters but not yet returned. Such ballots, if postmarked by Election Day, can be accepted within three days of Election Day.”
Raffensperger stated, “Officials in numerous counties are continuing to count ballots, with strong security protocols in place to protect the integrity of our election. We have long anticipated – and said publicly – that counting would most likely take place into Wednesday night and perhaps Thursday morning. We’re on pace to accomplish that responsibly, ensuring that the voice of every eligible voter is heard. It’s important to act quickly, but it’s more important to get it right.”
Raffensperger stated that various measures have been taken to assure the integrity of the voting process, including: absentee drop boxes being locked at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening; surveillance cameras monitoring drop boxes at all times; a state monitor in the room with Fulton County for all counts and the public welcome to observe any county, and a pre-certification audit to provide additional confidence that the votes were accurately counted.
Raffensperger added, “We’re well aware that with a close presidential election and the possibility of runoffs in some elections that the eyes of the state and the nation are upon Georgia at this time. We’re as anxious as anyone to see the final results and to start work on certification and planning for our runoff elections. As the work goes on, I want to assure Georgia voters that every legal vote was cast and accurately counted.”
If the difference between President Trump and Biden is less than half a percentage point, a recount can be requested, according to Georgia law. According to Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who supervised the implementation of Georgia’s new electronic voting system, each county must validate their total votes by November 13, and then the state will audit them before pronouncing a winner by November 20.
Both political parties are working to help people to correct flaws in their ballots before Friday’s deadline, AP reported, adding mail-in ballots may need to be signed or the signature on the ballot doesn’t match, and voters with provisional ballots may have to return to verify their identity with a photo ID.
Sterling opined that he was doubtful the system has been rigged, asserting, “I think if anybody was going to try to rig a system they might have seen something a little less close than this. In this state in particular we take security very seriously. … We’re going to have a recount for president more than likely and the people will see that the outcome will stay essentially the same.”