The Trump campaign late Saturday filed a petition for an additional recount in Georgia after the hand recount declared former Vice President Joe Biden the winner by roughly 12,000 votes. During the recount, President Donald Trump picked up an additional 888 votes.
“Today, the Trump campaign filed a petition for recount in Georgia. We are focused on ensuring that every aspect of Georgia State Law and the U.S. Constitution are followed so that every legal vote is counted," the campaign said in a statement.
"President Trump and his campaign continue to insist on an honest recount in Georgia, which has to include signature matching and other vital safeguards. Without signature matching, this recount would be a sham and again allow for illegal votes to be counted. If there is no signature matching, this would be as phony as the initial vote count and recount," the statement said. "Let’s stop giving the People false results. There must be a time when we stop counting illegal ballots. Hopefully it is coming soon.”
The news comes after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) certified the election results. Although Kemp certified the results, he called for an additional hand recount, citing major errors in Floyd, Douglas and Walton Counties.
“I would just say I’m formalizing the certification," Kemp said at the time. "Now that Secretary Raffensperger certified, it triggers the ability of the Trump campaign to ask for the recount. If something were to happen, I’m still part of that process. So my take on all this is: I’m following the law and the rules."
Under Georgia law, one race has to be hand-counted as an audit to make sure voting machines are functioning properly. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger chose the presidential race because of it's narrow margins.
The Trump campaign's recount request would be considered an actual recount, something that's state-funded and can take place because the results are within a half-point of one another. The results currently sit at 0.26 percent.