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11th Nov 2020

Georgia to recount votes after Joe Biden wins state by thousands of votes

The state of Georgia will recount votes by hand after Joe Biden won the state by 14,000 votes in the US presidential election

Reuben Pinder

Biden won the state by 14,000 votes

The state of Georgia has announced a recount after Joe Biden won the state by just 14,000 votes in the US presidential election.

Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that there will be a recount due to the marginal nature of Biden’s victory – not because of any sort of voter fraud.

There are five million ballots in Georgia and Trump submitted a request on Tuesday for the state to have a recount, which he is allowed to do under a law that states a 0.5% lead is grounds for a recount.

If the recount confirms his loss, it will be the first time a Democratic candidate has won the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Counties in the southern state have until Friday to certify the results of the ballots cast.

Trump has made numerous baseless claims of voter fraud in this election, for which there is still no evidence. And on Tuesday night his secretary of state Mike Pompeo ramped up tensions when he said there would be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”

While Trump refuses to admit defeat, Biden is preparing his cabinet to take over in the Oval Office and it has been suggested he could appoint former president Barack Obama as his ambassador to the UK, which could make for an awkward situation for British prime minister Boris Johnson.