Georgia Confirms That Biden Won After Completing Hand Audit Of Ballots
Georgia has finished the audit process across the state, which confirmed that President-elect Joe Biden won the razor-thin presidential race. This confirmation comes from a news release from the Secretary of State's office.
The audit's recently unveiled final results show that Biden beat his Republican opponent, President Donald Trump, by 12,284 votes. This is a notable drop for the former veep as compared to the pre-audit results.
The officials have also debunked speculations surrounding the audit, noting that there was no widespread fraud or any irregularities in the election. CNN pointed out that Georgia will need to certify its election results by Nov. 20, per the state law.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger released a statement noting that Georgia's historic first statewide audit has strongly reaffirmed that the state's new secure paper ballot voting system has flawlessly counted and reported results. Raffensperger attributed the accuracy of the results to the hard work of the county and local elections officials who undertook and completed this epoch-making task without taking a lot of time.
Trump's loss has been the worse in Georgia's red state, with the suburban revolving against the president in the suburbs nearby Atlanta. Aside from that, there was a massive turnout among Black voters, which led to Biden gaining in the state.
Jaclyn Rothenberg, the Biden campaign's communications director for Georgia that the recount outcome reaffirmed what Americans already knew - Voters in Georgia have selected Biden to be their next president. AJC political reporter Greg Bluestein tweeted Rothenberg's statement using hashtag #gapol, which is used politics related tweets in the state of Georgia.
Rothenberg expressed her gratitude towards the election officials, workers, and volunteers to go out of their way and work overtime under unprecedented circumstances to make sure this recount was complete soon. She described their efforts as the utmost form of public service.
The state is the center of the political realm, considering that the two US Senate runoff elections will decide whether Republicans or Democrats will control the Senate. However, Trump continued to tweet already debunked claims about the state using voting software and called the recounts fake by raising questions regarding the state's signature-matching process.
Almost ZERO ballots rejected in Georgia this election. In years past, close to 4%. Not possible. Must have signature check on envelopes now. Very easy to do. Dems fighting because they got caught. Far more votes than needed for flip. Republicans must get tough! @BrianKempGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2020
Biden has become the first Democratic presidential candidate, since Bill Clinton in 1992, to carry Georgia. During her appearance on a local TV station, Raffensperger said the Trump campaign had not provided any evidence to support its claims of fraud in Georgia, despite the president's numerous tweets about state-wide election fraud.