The outcome of the 2020 presidential election hangs in the balance, awaiting the results of some slow-counting battleground states. On Thursday, a Georgia state election official says once they finally finish counting the ballots, a recount will likely be in order.
President Trump is clinging to a narrow lead in the Peach State, but Georgia's voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling predicts the state will be headed towards a recount given the closeness of the race.
"We take security very seriously," Sterling said, as reported by The New York Post. "They’re going to get it right. We’re going to have an audit to prove they got it right. … We’re going to have a recount for president, more than likely, and people will see those outcomes stay essentially the same."
"I feel like, in this state, we have taken the steps at every level to secure that vote and make sure the integrity of the ballot is protected."
While President Trump currently leads Biden in Georgia by fewer than 10,000 votes, mail-in ballots skewing heavily toward Biden continue to pour in two days after the election. The total vote count as of this writing has Trump with 2,439,925 votes and Biden with 2,430,499.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Thursday that as of 5:35 p.m. local time approximately 36,331 ballots are still outstanding.
Failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has helped lead aggressive voter campaigns in Georgia following her loss in 2018.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in the states of Georgia and Nevada to ensure ballots cast after Election Day are not illegally counted.