Published 16:39 IST, November 19th 2020
Georgia, Wisconsin recount unlikely to change US election result as Trump alleges fraud
Election officials in Georgia found 'no deviation' and expect to release the results of a statewide audit after finishing entry data of a handful of counties.
US President Donald Trump’s attempts to recount the ballots in states of Georgia and Wisconsin are unlikely to change the election outcomes that project President-elect Joe Biden’s win with 20,000 vote lead in his favour, Georgia’s elections director, Gabriel Sterling warned. President Trump filed a lawsuit seeking a full hand recount of 5 million presidential votes in the state of Wisconsin alleging ‘fraud’ as he berated the Dems of illegally “stealing the elections”. Gabriel Sterling with the secretary of state's office on November 18 told NPR that as the election officials expect to release the results of a statewide audit by noon after finishing the entry data of a handful of counties, there were “very few or no deviations” in numbers.
According to Sterling, in at least 57 counties, there were 0 vote offs, while 21 counties had a margin of 1, and as many as 32 counties were off by single digits. The tallies rolled as the Risk Limiting Audit concluded around 1 pm today across several counties, including Richmond. Only 21 of 159 counties, including metro Atlanta were showing their risk-limiting audit is still in process.
The audit deadline was 11:59 pm, but hours before the closing, the Trump campaign pitched for a recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties alleging fraud and voter irregularities. GA Elections Director Janine Eveler told Fox News reporters at Cobb County that “she hasn't seen anything during the by-hand audit that would cast any doubt on the election results.” Meanwhile, the Voting System Implementation Manager Conservative Sterling gave out the unofficial breakdown of the ballots that weren’t originally uploaded as 1,643 votes for US President Trump, 865 for former Vice President Joe Biden, and 16 for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen.
Trump’s 'baseless claims'
Earlier, Gabriel Sterling had pushed back on Trump’s “baseless claims” of voter fraud in Georgia, calling them “hoaxes and nonsense.” Speaking with the press, he asked the voters “not to buy into these things, and this election was an amazing success here.” However, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued an unequivocal warning to the Georgia run-off election vacation voters, saying, “Moving to Georgia temporarily in order to vote in January 5 runoff is illegal”. He added that voters that tested the spirit of the law will be prosecuted.
“Coming to Georgia with the sole purpose of voting and leaving is illegal and is considered voter fraud. Per O.C.G.A § 21-2-561, it is a felony to register to vote in Georgia if you are not a resident of Georgia with no intention of staying and is punishable by up to 10 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.” Raffensperger’s statement came in response to the former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s tweet wherein he said that he will “move to Georgia for the runoff”. The Republican voters meanwhile alleged that the election was rigged against US president Trump, as the Republicans were hoping to overturn the counts in at least three states which the election officials claimed was unprecedented.
(Image Credit: AP)
Updated 16:38 IST, November 19th 2020