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DISCUSSED LAND: Georgia College Political Science professor Claire Sanders has busy days explaining what is happening in the state after the election. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA (VG) All votes in the state of Georgia must be counted again, and this time it must be done by hand. – I have not seen anything like it in my life, says the professor of politics.
The counting of votes in the US presidential election has been unusually chaotic and, at the same time, as many experts have warned it would be.
Ten days after the election, all vote counting work will be put aside in the state of Georgia, to start over, this time by hand. It’s not just Norway where this sounds unusually labor-intensive.
At the College of Georgia in Milledgeville, Professor Claire Sanders has her eyes wide open.
– I’ve never seen anything like this before, at least I can’t remember this ever happening in my life. It will definitely be labor intensive! American politics professor Claire Sanders (38) tells VG in Milledgeville.
ELECTION EXPERIENCE: Claire Sanders has worked as an election and voter officer for many years, prior to becoming a teacher, but has never participated in manual counting before. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
Short term
Georgia’s Republican Home Secretary Brad Raffensperger has decided that a recount should be done and that it should be done by hand. The starting shot is Friday morning local time.
When VG meets with the professor less than a day before the recount begins, election officials have not yet been briefed in detail on how this unusual recount will take place, but the deadline has been set and it is short: all Votes must be counted before midnight next Wednesday.
– There has been a lack of clarity in the procedures of what is going to happen now. And this in an election in which we have had the highest turnout in the state! It is a short term, so much I can say! ”, Says the professor to VG.
Having to count more than five million votes at a time puts a serious brake on the process of obtaining a definitive and precise electoral result in the presidential elections. But the slowness of the process doesn’t stop here:
Once the results of the handmade countdown are approved, the losing candidate can request a new countdown per machine. The deadline to demand it is two days after next Wednesday.
This possible count number three can be done faster than counting by hand, but the process isn’t fast, anyway, says Sanders.
Questions about trust
After 99 percent of the votes from the first count are ready, Biden has a lead of just over 14,000 votes in Georgia, which equates to an advantage of about 0.3 percentage points in the state with 16 voters.
Although Trump has made accusations on Twitter of election fraud in Georgia, there is nothing to suggest that it happened.
Manual counting is now more vulnerable to errors than automatic counting, explains Sanders. The process should be conducted so that two or three employees sit together, see what is on a ballot, and record it. It also involves one interpretation, what can be a human weakness, he explains.
Interior Minister Raffensperger says his motivation for requesting the referendum is to build trust in the electoral system. The teacher is not convinced that this is the result.
-It can also be seen from the other side: The voters who have gone out to vote, how do you feel that there were doubts about the credibility of the election?, Asks Sanders rhetorically.
SUSPICIOUS: Jordan Long (18) believes a count sends a clear signal that someone believes cheating has occurred in the process. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
Cheat signal
On the college campus, students walking between buildings to give lectures believe that a recount is unnecessary.
– A count gives a signal that they believe someone has cheated. If not, they wouldn’t have had to ask for it, communication student Jordan Long tells VG.
Her fellow student Kelly Wong (18) has little sense of the pressure she believes the Republican Party is exerting against the system.
– I think the choice was made correctly. My take is that Republicans are angry that Democrats approved so many mail-in ballots. I think it is stupid that Trump has the power to train a process that has apparently gone well, the 18-year-old tells VG.
It is certainly expensive, and the people who have to pay the bill are the Americans themselves. It is each county that is responsible for paying the count, and indirectly refers to the voters themselves, through the tax scheme, says the professor.
It is not yet known how many people will have to be hired to carry out this extraordinary count. Raffensperger of the Republicans made the following comment on big spending: “People come to work a lot of overtime. They will be very happy with the salary.”
TIRED: Student Kelly Wong is tired of Trump coaching the electoral process. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
Critics: – Undermine democracy
If Biden wins Georgia, he will be the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1992. But Trump has turned all his lawyers around to prevent it.
On Thursday, it was announced that Trump will win with one of the many demands on the counting of votes in Pennsylvania. His administration continues to deny Biden access to intelligence briefings, as is common for incoming presidents. The Trump camp does not recognize Biden as an elected leader.
This is something that characterizes the moment in which we find ourselves, according to the American policy expert.
– We have seen a growing tendency to blame the actual electoral process if the election result is not what a party wants. Critics say this is exactly what undermines democracy, he says.
He has spoken a lot with his colleagues about this.
– Interpretation The outcome of the elections is becoming as important as the outcome of the elections itself, we now say electoral researchers. It is an interesting time that we live in.
CAMPUS: Georgia College is a popular place to study political science and electoral processes. Claire Sanders has taught here for 18 years. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
