Raffensperger on second recount: ‘It looks like Vice President Biden will be carrying Georgia’

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said Wednesday that it appears President-elect Joe Biden will win the state after a second recount of ballots cast.

“It looks like Vice President Biden will be carrying Georgia, and he is our president-elect,” Raffensperger said while announcing that the second Georgia recount requested by President Trump’s campaign has not resulted in any “substantial changes.”  

“We have seen no substantial changes to the results from any county so far, and that’s what we expected,” he said at a press briefing. 

“As many of us have said, we wish that our guy would have won the election,” he said. “But it doesn’t look like our guy has won the election.”

Georgia counties have until midnight on Thursday to submit their recount results — a deadline all of them are expected to meet, the secretary of state said, noting that 110 had finished already. 

Raffensperger, who identifies himself as a Trump supporter, also said that several investigations in Georgia have uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud, as the president has alleged.

This aligns with Attorney General William Barr’s statement on Tuesday that the Justice Department has not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud in the country. 

Biden has been widely recognized as the president-elect for almost a month, but Trump has refused to concede, as he and his campaign promoted unfounded claims of fraud. The president has also specifically called out Raffensperger and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) for allowing the state to certify results showing Biden won.   

During his press conference, the Georgia secretary of state blamed Trump for the threats that election workers have been receiving, saying the president was using “exactly the kind of language that is at the base of a growing threat environment for election workers who are simply doing their jobs.”

Raffensperger called on Georgia residents to focus on the Jan. 5 runoff election, which includes the two Senate races that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.  

“I believe that Jan. 5 is where people should be expanding their energy,” he said. “We need to look ahead. The control of the United States Senate and a statewide Public Service Commission seat are at stake.”