Georgia to recount election votes by hand after Trump campaign plea

Votes will have to be counted by 20 Nov

Georgia's secretary of state Brad Raffensperger announced on Wednesday that the state will conduct a hand recount of ballots cast in the 2020 US election.  

His announcement came after the Trump campaign and the state's Republican Party sent a letter to Mr Raffensperger on Tuesday requesting a manual hand recount before the state certifies its results.  

Donald Trump and the state GOP allege, without evidence, that there were voting discrepancies and electoral errors throughout the state.

“With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county,” Mr Raffensperger said at a press conference.

A hand recount will likely prevent Georgia from certifying its results for days, as each ballot is opened and hand-examined by ballot counters.  

“It’ll take every bit of the time we have left, for sure,” he said.

The state's deadline for certifying results is 20 Nov.  

Mr Raffensperger is a Republican, but has come under fire from members of his own party.  

On Monday, Senator David Perdue — who will run in a run-off race against Democratic challenger John Ossoff that will determine the majority in the US Senate — and Senator Kelly Loeffler called on Mr Raffensperger to resign over "mismanagement and lack of transparency."  

Neither of the GOP lawmakers cited examples backing up their allegations. It is worth noting Ms Loeffler, apparently a stickler for transparency, faced sharp backlash this year after dumping stock ahead of the coronavirus outbreak in the US. 

Thanks to a briefing she received in her capacity as a lawmaker, Ms Loeffler was able to use her position to make some money. At the time, Ms Loeffler faced calls that she resign her seat. She did not.  

It does not appear Mr Raffensperger plans to resign either.  

In a statement responding to the senators' demands, Mr Raffensperger said "the voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the ones to fire me". He advised that the senators focus on retaining control of the Senate.