Georgia begins statewide hand recount of all election votes

Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Georgia will conduct a full recount -- by hand -- of all ballots cast statewide in the 2020 election between President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden, officials said Wednesday.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made the announcement, following up on an earlier promise for a recount of all votes in the state -- where Biden has received 14,000 more votes than Trump for the state's 16 critical electoral votes, according to the official count.

"With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county," Raffensperger told reporters in Atlanta. "This will help build confidence.

"It will be an audit, a recount and a re-canvass all at once. It will be a heavy lift, but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for our state certification."

Georgia has until Nov. 20 to certify its ballots from across the state.

Raffensperger has come under pressure from Republicans after Trump and other conservatives began repeating baseless clams of voter fraud to explain Biden's lead.

The state's two GOP senators, each of whom face runoff elections against Democratic challengers, have demanded that he resign.

Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue cited "failures" in Georgia's election process without citing specific examples and repeated Trump's abstruse refrain that "illegal votes" should not be counted.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that a state-by-state inquiry of every state turned up no evidence or known instances of voter fraud.

Raffensperger, a Republican, rejected the calls to resign and declared the election a "resounding success," noting low wait times and high turnout during a tricky and dangerous health crisis.

Wednesday, he again said he'd look into claims of voter fraud but focused on praise for local election officials.

"Their job is hard, they executed their responsibilities, and they did their job," Raffensperger said. "These men and women, and my office, will continue to follow the law and count every legal vote."