‘THIS WILL HELP BUILD CONFIDENCE’: Georgia announces hand recount of all votes

After the media’s abominably premature call of a victory for Joe Biden, Republican trust in the election process plummeted, while Democrat trust soared. 

A whopping 70 percent of Republicans now say they don’t believe the 2020 election was free and fair, according to a Politico poll.

But, to ease all worries, Georgia’s secretary of state announced Wednesday that election officials in the state will be conducting a recount – by hand – of all ballots cast in the 2020 presidential race. 

What is at stake? 16 Electoral College votes. 

“This will help build confidence,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvas all at once.” 

As President Trump’s campaign continues to file lawsuits in several key battleground states, all 159 counties in the Peach State will undergo a hand recount, expected to be finished by November 20, the state’s deadline to certify election results.

Raffensperger said his office will investigate all claims of voter irregularities. 

“We are committed to counting every legal ballot,” he said in a Tweet. 

According to law Georgia passed in 2019– Georgia is required have a state-wide hand Risk Limiting Audit (RLA), trigging a recount.

We are committed to counting every legal ballot. Georgia voters deserves accurate, secure results. We stand by our numbers.

— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) November 11, 2020

The Republican secretary of state has received backlash from the Trump campaign, which requested a manual recount on Tuesday, and GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler even called on him to resign from office over his handling of their races that will head to runoff elections in January, according to the New York Post. 

“The management of Georgia elections has become an embarrassment for our state,” the two said in a statement Monday. “We believe when there are failures, they need to be called out – even when it’s in your own party.” 

In response to their call for his resignation, Rassensperger said “that is not going to happen.” 

“The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me,” he said in a statement. 

Statement from Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger pic.twitter.com/Sf1JIWH5qg

— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) November 9, 2020

“I’ll continue to fight every day to ensure fair elections in Georgia, that every legal vote counts and that illegal votes don’t count,” he continued.