Sunday afternoon, Fulton County announced they have completed their hand recount. Fulton County Registration & Elections completed the hand count of 528,000 ballots cast during the November 3 General Election, representing more than 11% of the Risk Limiting Audit process.
According to a release, the audit involved the participation of hundreds of workers, monitors, and observers. At peak times, Fulton County had more than 170 teams working to complete the audit. Fulton County employees and poll workers conducted the audit work, with active participation from political party monitors, and members of the press and the general public observing the process.
On Monday, November 16, Fulton County will transmit their results to the State.
Dekalb County finished counting nearly 373,000 votes in two days, with the last vote counted after 10 PM Sunday night. The county will transmit the results to the Secretary of State’s Office on Monday morning.
Cobb County has more than 390,000 votes to count and there is not a new update as to when they’ll finish counting ballots.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ordered the recount as it falls within the 0.5% threshold, triggering a mandatory recount. This is the first statewide recount in Georgia’s history.
President-Elect Joe Biden leads President Donald J. Trump by 0.3% or just over 14,000 votes. Many outlets called Georgia for Biden Friday afternoon. Thursday, the Georgia Republican Party issued a letter stating their “serious concerns regarding the training and directives” for how the hand count will be conducted. Also, Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system manager pledged a safe recount process.
“This office spends a heck of a lot of time on making sure that the equipment involved is secure,” Sterling said. “The decentralized nature of votes in Georgia is a security measure in and of itself. It’s 159 counties. There’s not a single target.”
Trump supporters staged protests of the recount at the Georgia State Capitol and at the Governor’s Mansion Saturday. The protests, titled “Stop the Steal” were aimed at Raffensperger’s directive to recount the ballots. The protesters wore MAGA hats, adorned themselves with American flags, and proclaimed President Trump should serve four more years.
Nonetheless, Georgia’s 159 counties and thousands of county and poll workers have a deadline of Wednesday, Nov. 18, at midnight to finish tallying the votes.
