Georgia taxpayers will fund another full recount at Trump's request

(Image credit: Megan Varner/Getty Images)

published 23 November 2020

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."

Both Republican candidates in those races, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and Sen. David Perdue (R), released statements backing Trump's recount request, including a recount that includes signature matching. It will be impossible to match signatures with mail-in ballots, already checked twice to rule out double voting, Raffensperger's office says. A federal judge Thursday evening threw out a lawsuit claiming improper signature matching, saying there was no evidence that more than a nominal number of votes were tainted by possible irregularities.

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating threats to Raffensperger and his team from angry Trump supporters, Georgia officials said Sunday.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.