Updated 1:49 p.m.
Fulton and DeKalb counties have resumed counting absentee ballots this morning, Nov. 4, as the fate of the 2020 Presidential Election hangs in the balance.
President Donald Trump is leading in Georgia, but Joe Biden could tip Georgia blue outstanding ballots in Fulton and DeKalb are tabulated in his favor. Both Biden and Trump need Georgia’s 16 electoral to close the gap and reach 270.
The large number of absentee ballots in both counties due to the coronavirus pandemic are generally believed to favor Biden, according to prognosticators.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said during a morning press conference that “Every legal vote in Georgia will count” and that more than 200,000 absentee and early votes still need to be counted.
Just before 1 p.m. Fulton County released a statement about the vote count:
“Fulton County, along with sister counties across the metro area and many across the nation, continues to process absentee ballots. A small team of Fulton County Registration & Election workers continued to process absentee ballots overnight last night. A larger team continued that work starting at 8:30 a.m. today. Last night, 74,000 absentee ballots were tabulated included in reported results. There are approximately 42,400 to be opened, scanned and adjudicated today. Approximately 25,000 ballots have been scanned and are awaiting adjudication. An adjudication review panel will meet at 2 p.m. today at the Fulton County Election Preparation Center, 1365 English Street, Atlanta 30318.
We remain committed to ensuring that every vote is counted. Work will continue until completed.”
The county started recounting votes at 8:30 a.m. after media reports surfaced last night that a water pipe had burst inside State Farm Arena where absentee ballots were being tabulated. The Fulton County Elections offices issued a statement that no ballots had been damaged, but there was a “brief delay” in counting while repairs were made.
The statement read in part: “As planned, Fulton County will continue to tabulate the remainder of absentee ballots over the next two days. Absentee ballot processing requires that each ballots is opened, signatures verified, and ballots scanned. This is a labor intensive process that takes longer to tabulate than other forms of voting. Fulton County did not anticipate having all absentee ballots processed on Election Day. Fulton County is committed to ensuring that every vote is counted and will comply with all applicable laws and regulations.””
DeKalb restarted its count at 11 a.m., according to officials, and hopes to have its 48,000 remaining absentee ballots processed today.
Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina were some of the other key states still counting ballots this morning.
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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