Tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted, many in counties where Democrat Joe Biden was at the helm, are making the Georgia race between President Donald Trump and Biden too early to call. Trump and Biden were locked in a tight race to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Georgia is a must-win state for Trump, who has a narrower path to victory than Biden.
Trump prematurely declared that he was winning it early Wednesday morning. However, by late Thursday, his lead over Biden had dropped to less than 2,000 votes.
THE DETAILS
The secretary of state’s office said early Thursday that 18,936 absentee ballots still need to be counted in seven counties. That did not include provisional ballots and absentee ballots that must be “curated” before being scanned. Ballots cast before Election Day by military voters and citizens living abroad and received before 5 pm. Friday will also be counted.
Additionally, Biden’s voting margins grew after a handful of pro-Trump rural counties processed ballots cast in his favor, an AP analysis showed.
There is a chance that the race will come to a recount. Under Georgia law, if the margin between Biden and Trump is less than half a percentage point difference, a recount may be requested.
POLITICAL PROFILE OF GEORGIA
Georgia has long been a Republican stronghold. Voters there have not favored a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1992. Trump beat Hillary Clinton there by 5 percentage points in 2016. And the state government is dominated by the Republican Party.
But control of the party has been loosened. As older, white, and Republican-leaning voters die, they are being replaced by a younger, more racially diverse cast of people, many of whom moved to the booming area of Atlanta from other states and brought their politics.
Overall, demographic trends show that the state’s electorate is getting younger and more diverse each year. Like other metropolitan areas, Atlanta’s suburbs have also turned away from Republicans. In 2016, Hillary Clinton switched Cobb and Gwinnett counties, where Biden currently leads.
In 2018, Democrat Stacey Abrams galvanized black voters in her bid to become the country’s first African-American woman to lead a state, a campaign she narrowly lost. Many political analysts say it is not a question of whether, but when Georgia becomes an indecisive state.
That became clear in the final weeks of the campaign as Biden, his running mate. Senator Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama swept the state. Trump also visited the state to play defense.
COUNTING RULES
Automatic counting: No
Counting Law: A candidate may request a recount if the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.5 percentage points.
Deadline: A count must be requested within two business days after the results are certified.
Who pays: State law does not specify who is responsible for the counting costs.
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