President Trump is entitled under Georgia law to request a third recount of votes from the Nov. 3 election because, according to the initial machine count and a painstaking hand recount ordered by the state, he is within half a percentage point of President-elect Joe Biden. But because the ballots have been already been counted twice and Biden leads by more than 12,000 votes, the results are all but certain to stay the same. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and Gov. Brian Kemp (R) certified Biden's victory on Friday.
"The recount is expected to begin this week," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. "It's unclear how long it will take to complete. The recount will be paid for by Georgia taxpayers." Officials in Georgia's counties were expecting Trump's Saturday request and had already started preparing the equipment, The Washington Post adds, "but the machine recount will probably, in some ways, pose greater logistical and financial challenges to county election officials, who have been laboring virtually nonstop since the Nov. 3 election" and are also "busy preparing for upcoming special elections, including the two U.S. Senate runoff elections in January."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demandsspeed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
'New firms are created to serve the economy of which they are part'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
-
Russian strike kills dozens in UkraineSpeed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
South Korea court removes impeached presidentSpeed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifiesspeed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
Israel detains director after West Bank settler clashspeed read The director of Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land' was arrested and beaten
-
Turkey arrests Istanbul mayor, a top Erdogan rivalSpeed Read Protests erupted in Turkey after authorities detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu
-
Israel strikes Gaza, breaking ceasefireSpeed Read 326 Palestinians were killed in the first major attack since Netanyahu's government signed a ceasefire agreement with Hamas
