7:15 p.m., Nov. 5
President Trump claimed in an evening press conference that the election is rigged, corrupt, and fraudulent. He singled out Georgia’s “Democratic election apparatus” – which will be news to Gov. Kemp’s administration – as the reason for the tightening race in the state. He said more lawsuits would be filed and the election would be decided by judges and lawyers. Trump’s lead in Georgia has dropped to just 3,635 votes against Biden.
5:45 p.m., Nov. 5
Trump’s lead in Georgia has dropped to less than 10,000 as ballots continue to be counted. Biden supporters are hopeful that the remaining mail-in ballots from Chatham, Clayton and Gwinnett will put him over the top. Stay tuned.
3:15 p.m., Nov. 5
Georgia Voting System Implementation Manager Gabe Sterling said in a 3 p.m. press briefing that there are 47,277 votes still to be counted in Georgia. Counties where counting continues include Chatham, Clayton, Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Laurens, Taylor and Fulton. Although Fulton completed its absentee-by-mail tabulation, there are still 7,305 ballots that need verification, provisional ballots, and military ballots.
1:15 p.m., Nov. 5
The absentee ballot count is complete in Fulton County, according to elections director Richard Barron. He said a little more 145,000 ballots were processed, 3,600 provisional ballots will be processed this afternoon, and the county is awaiting military overseas ballots. There are also 200 “cured” ballots – those that need errors corrected by voters – that need to be resolved.
12:15 p.m., Nov. 5
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit from the Trump campaign and the Georgia Republican Party alleging that Chatham County elections officials improperly counted absentee ballots received after the 7 p.m. deadline on Election Day.
11 a.m., Nov. 5
Fulton County continued to count absentee ballots overnight as the fate of the 2020 Presidential Election hangs in the balance.
10:30 a.m. Nov. 5
Georgia Voting System Implementation Manager Gabe Sterling said in a 10:30 a.m. press briefing that there is no evidence of voter suppression happening in Georgia as more than 60,000 absentee ballots remain to be counted statewide. Sterling also said there are absentee ballots from overseas military and provisional ballots that must be counted. With a close margin in the presidential election, those military and provisional ballots may come into play.
8:30 a.m., Nov. 5
A Fulton vote update is expected at 11 a.m. this morning, while Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. CNN is reporting that there are still 50,000 ballots to be counted statewide.
8:00 a.m., Nov. 5
President Donald Trump is leading in Georgia, but Joe Biden has considerably tightened the gap, with the candidates running nearly neck and neck. Fulton only had a few thousand ballots left to tabulate, while DeKalb County has finished its count having processed all 369,948 votes cast in the county for the presidential election.
Original post
The large number of absentee ballots in both Fulton and DeKalb counties due to the coronavirus pandemic are generally believed to favor Biden, according to prognosticators.
The Trump Administration has filed suit in Chatham County to stop the vote count alleging ballot mishandling, while the state’s Republican Chairman David Shafer said in a statement Wednesday night that they planned to sue in a dozen counties. Raffensperger said during a Wednesday morning press conference that “every legal vote in Georgia will count”
Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina were the other key states still counting ballots.
In Georgia, Doug Collins conceded the U.S. Senate sending Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock to a runoff in January. In the other closely watched Senate race, Republican David Perdue has a lead over Democrat Jon Ossoff, but Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel may split the vote and force a runoff as the vote count continues.
This story will be updated.
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