Fulton County election workers count the last of the presidential ballots at the Georgia World Congress Center on Sunday, November 15, 2020. STEVE SCHAEFER / SPECIAL TO THE AJC
By Tyler Estep
Vote counting appeared to go smoothly throughout metro Atlanta over the weekend, as work continued on the state’s sweeping manual recount of the 5 million ballots cast in the presidential contest.
No irregularities or significant tabulation errors emerged during the first three days of the recount, officials said. Two major metro counties — Fulton and DeKalb — completed their efforts on Sunday.
Counting across the state can continue through 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.
Here’s what you need to know:
- President Joe Biden the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes on Friday
- President Donald Trump currently trails Biden by roughly 14,000 votes. Officials don’t expect the recount to change the final tally much
- Trump and his allies continued spread false claims about the recount process on social media
Several Georgia newspapers are collaborating to provide you with a statewide view of this historic undertaking. The Athens Banner-Herald, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Augusta Chronicle, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, The Macon Telegraph and The Savannah Morning News will share their collective work with you until the recount is complete.
Follow our live updates here:
9:20 a.m.
Trump continues assault on Georgia recount
President Donald Trump continued his social media assault on Georgia’s hand recount Monday morning, calling it “fake” because officials “are not allowing signatures to be looked at and verified.”
Signatures are checked when county election offices receive absentee ballots from voters. Reverification of signatures isn’t part of the recount process because ballots can’t be matched back to ballot envelopes to protect voter secrecy.
9 a.m.
Still work to be done in Gwinnett County
By Amanda Coyne
Around 9 a.m. Monday, Gwinnett elections director Kristi Royston said the county’s count of more than 115,000 absentee-by-mail ballots was almost done. From there, workers will move on to about 219,000 early in-person votes, then assess Election Day ballots.
Royston said there was some miscommunication Monday morning and the county ended up with more poll workers than they needed. There was a delay in getting work started.
8:40 a.m.
Georgia elections head responds to false claims about recount integrity
By Mark Niesse
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrote several Facebook posts Sunday night debunking claims about absentee ballot signature verification, recount observation rules and the state’s voting system.
Raffensperger’s posts from his official Facebook page push back on several allegations attaching Georgia’s recount process, including attacks from President Donald Trump.
“Truth matters. Integrity matters,” Raffesperger, a Republican, wrote in one of his posts.
On absentee ballots, Raffensperger wrote that election officials are required to check signatures on absentee ballot envelopes to ensure that they match voters’ signatures on file. Election officials receive training from the GBI on how to compare voter signatures.
Raffensperger took aim at U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, who questioned Georgia’s signature matching efforts on behalf of the Trump campaign.
“Failed candidate Doug Collins is a liar – but what’s new?” Raffensperger wrote.
A court settlement earlier this year required closer scrutiny of voter signatures before rejecting their absentee ballots, which Raffensperger said strengthened the ballot verification process. Signatures are checked when county election offices receive absentee ballots from voters. Reverification of signatures isn’t part of the recount process because ballots can’t be matched back to ballot envelopes to protect voter secrecy.
In response to Trump’s attacks on Georgia’s recount process, Raffensperger noted that political parties are able to appoint monitors who can watch the process up-close. The general public can also watch the process from observation areas. Raffensperger said political parties – not his office – are responsible for recruiting monitors and giving them credentials.
One of Raffensperger’s posts responds to Trump by saying that Dominion Voting Systems, the company that sold Georgia its new voting equipment, is owned in America, not Venezuela as Trump claimed. Dominion is privately owned by a New York-based private equity firm called Staple Street Capital Management.
In addition, Raffensperger makes clear that ballot harvesting is illegal in Georgia under a state law passed last year. Absentee ballots can only be handled by a voter, a close family member or the caregiver of a disabled voter.
8 a.m.
Some key counties finished, others resume work
Two major metro Atlanta counties finished their work on the risk-limiting audit Sunday. Fulton County, Georgia’s most populous, concluded its recount just before 4 p.m.
DeKalb County finished shortly after 10 p.m. and planned to formally submit its results to the Secretary of State’s office Monday morning.
Cobb County, Gwinnett County and other jurisdictions resumed counting Monday morning as well. A potential timeline for Cobb’s completion was unclear; Gwinnett officials said they expected to finish Monday night or Tuesday morning.
“I think we have probably a good day with the paper ballots tomorrow,” Gwinnett spokesman Joe Sorenson said Sunday. “It’s gone very well.”
Results for all of Georgia’s 159 counties will be released all at once after every county finishes.
Read the original story on AJC.com.
