President-elect Joe Biden won Georgia by 12,284 votes, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office said late Thursday, relaying the results of a six-day statewide hand recount of the 5 million ballots cast. Raffensperger plans to certify the results Friday, as required by law, effectively handing Biden Georgia's 16 electoral votes. President Trump won Georgia in 2016. The hand recount and audit of election returns in Georgia's 159 counties turned up nearly 6,000 unreported votes in four counties, and Trump gained about 1,400 votes when those were properly tallied. After the recount's results were released, The Associated Press joined other news organizations and declared Biden winner of the state, giving him a projected Electoral College win of 306 to 232.
Trump's campaign vowed to continue contesting the state, and the margin of defeat does allow for a taxpayer-funded machine recount, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
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