Georgia’s recount, requested by Trump, has a start date. What to know about process
County election officials across Georgia are set to begin their presidential recounts Tuesday morning — the third time that the nearly 5 million ballots will be tallied.
Counties have a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Dec. 2 to retally the ballots following a formal recount request from incumbent Donald Trump’s campaign. Under Georgia law, a losing candidate can request a recount if the margin of victory falls within 0.5% after the state certifies its election results.
This recount, unlike the hand audit, will be done electronically as specified by state law. The outcome is not expected to change, but President-elect Joe Biden’s margin of victory could change, said Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system implementation manager.
“We had an initial count. We had an audit to confirm that initial count,” Sterling said.
The recount will be the state’s certified results, Sterling said. Counties will cover the cost of the recount. However, state election officials said federal funds could be used to help offset recount costs.
As of Monday, Biden led Trump by 12,670 votes.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 5:06 PM.