With counting continuing in numerous counties throughout Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that as of 3 p.m. today there were about 8,400 military and overseas ballots and 14,200 provisional ballots outstanding.
After facing criticism of Georgia’s election process by President Donald Trump, Raffensperger outlined several security measures the state has taken to secure the vote. The following are the security measures Georgia took:
- Absentee drop boxes were locked at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, preventing illegal voting or potential fraud.
- Surveillance cameras monitored drop boxes at all times.
- State monitor is in the room with Fulton County for all counts and the public is welcome to observe any county as an added layer of transparency.
- A pre-certification audit will provide additional confidence that the votes were accurately counted.
“We’re well aware that with a close presidential election and the possibility of runoffs in some elections that the eyes of the state and the nation are upon Georgia at this time,” Raffensperger said. “We’re as anxious as anyone to see the final results and to start work on certification and planning for our runoff elections. As the work goes on, I want to assure Georgia voters that every legal vote was cast and accurately counted.”
According to the secretary of state’s office there are about 8,400 military and overseas ballots that were requested but had not been received Friday. The deadline for those ballots to come in just passed at 5:00 p.m. The state has not updated how many of those were actually received by the deadline.
Provisional ballots are ballots that are cast when a voter tries to cast a ballot at the wrong precinct, they cast a provisional ballot and only the races relevant to their assigned precinct are counted. If a voter tries to cast a ballot in the wrong county, they are only eligible to cast ballots in statewide races. If a voter attempts to cast a ballot but is not listed as a registered voter, they vote a provisional ballot, which is set aside until county officials or the voter him or herself clarifies their registration status. Lastly, provisional ballots are used for any votes cast during court extended voting hours.
As of Friday evening, Joe Biden held a 4,155 vote lead over Donald Trump in Georgia.
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