Georgia finishes 2020 election recount, affirms Joe Biden won state

Georgia on Thursday wrapped up a recount of ballots cast in the presidential race — and the results confirm Joe Biden won the state, state election officials said.

A hand tally of the Peach State’s 5 million ballots was launched Friday after initial results showed Biden narrowly leading President Trump by 14,000 votes, or about 0.3 percentage points.

Ballots that hadn’t previously been counted were found in several counties during the audit, reducing the margin to about 12,800.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who ordered the recount, said Thursday that “the audit has aligned very close to what we had in election night reporting.”

“It’s so close, it’s not a thimble full of difference,” Raffensperger told local station WSB-TV.

Joe Biden
Joe BidenPhoto by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

He said there was “no doubt” that the state would certify the president-elect’s victory by Friday’s deadline.

Asked if he’d seen any evidence of fraud, Raffensperger said, “No.”

“It just doesn’t show up, just doesn’t work out. The numbers aren’t there,” he said.

Once the votes are certified, the Trump campaign has two business days to request another recount if the margin remains within 0.5 percent, under state law.

With Post wires

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