US election 2020: Biden wins Georgia recount as Trump setbacks mount

After six days of hand-counting ballots, the Georgia secretary of state’s office reaffirmed on Thursday that President-elect Joseph R Biden Jr had defeated President Trump in the state, which had long been considered a Republican stronghold.

The Trump campaign asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of Georgia, a Republican, for a full hand recount one week after Election Day. Raffensperger announced soon after that all 159 counties would participate in a “risk-limiting audit” that would include a hand recount. The audit of roughly five million votes was completed late Wednesday.

Though the result was something of a foregone conclusion, the recount took place amid escalating tension over the election outcome. The New York Times and other national news outlets called Georgia for Biden last week. But Trump has raised baseless accusations of fraud, and his allies — most notably Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, Republicans who are facing tough runoff races in the state in January — disparaged Raffensperger and accused him of mismanaging the election.

The process revealed a few significant hiccups in the process, with four counties — Floyd, Fayette, Walton and Douglas — discovering votes during the audit that were not part of the original count. Trump carried Floyd, Fayette and Walton Counties; Biden won Douglas County.