President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Georgia Republican Party on Tuesday asked for an immediate recount of the election before results are finalized.
Their letter to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger made several allegations of voting irregularities but didn’t provide any evidence or details.
“The Georgia Republican Party and The Donald J. Trump for President Campaign daily continue to receive hundreds of reports of voting discrepancies and errors statewide,” according to the letter. “Millions of Georgians doubt the process for counting ballots in this state.”
President-elect Joe Biden’s lead grew to over 12,500 votes in Georgia on Tuesday.
The letter says there’s evidence of problems, but it wasn’t provided, a pattern Trump backers have shown in recent days. It listed unsubstantiated claims of dead voters, out-of-state voters, double-voters, a lack of signature verification, and a denial of access to observe the opening of ballots.
The letter was signed by outgoing U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, who is leading Trump’s recount effort, and David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.
Raffensperger’s office didn’t immediately provide comment Tuesday. U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, allies of Trump, asked the Republican secretary of state to resign Monday.
State election officials said Monday that they hadn’t found evidence of widespread problems. Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system manager, said there were minor issues caused by human error in some counties.
Republican members of Georgia’s congressional delegation backed up the Trump campaign on Tuesday.
“A fair election ensures all legal ballots are counted. We are united in asking you to ensure that such is the case and look forward to your prompt response," they wrote.
Raffensperger has already said there will likely be a recount under a Georgia law that gives the losing candidate a right to request one if he or she lost by less than half a percent of all votes cast. The recount would take place after Raffensperger certifies election results by a Nov. 20 deadline.
But the Trump campaign and the Georgia Republican Party are seeking a different kind of recount that would occur before results are finalized. That type of recount is allowed at the discretion of the elections superintendent if discrepancies or errors appear to be present.
They also want a hand recount of all ballots, but that isn’t the process outlined in State Election Board rules. The board passed a rule earlier this year for recounts to be conducted by rescanning paper ballots.
Besides recounts, a statewide audit of one race is scheduled to begin Wednesday, when Raffensperger plans to announce which race will be audited.
The audit will review the text of voters’ choices on a sample of ballots to show that computer tabulations of ballots arrived at the correct winning candidate.
