The recount of Georgia’s presidential election totals for the November 3 2020 contest begins this morning.

The recount was requested by the campaign of President Donald Trump, who fell more than 12,000 votes below President-elect Joseph Biden in the hand-audit of Georgia’s totals in the contest for president completed last week.

Unlike Wisconsin, where a partial recount is taking place, and where the campaign requesting the recount is charged a substantial fee, in Georgia the state and county taxpayers bear the cost of the recount.

Cobb County elections Director Janine Eveler posted the following notice about the recount here in the county:

NOTICE OF RECOUNT HOURS

On Monday, November 23, the Secretary of State ordered all Georgia counties to conduct a recount of the Presidential race from the November 3, 2020 General Election.

Cobb County will conduct the recount on the following dates and times:

Tuesday, November 24, 2020 9am – 5pm

Wednesday, November 25, 2020 9am – 5pm

Monday, November 30, 2020 9am – 5pm

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 9am – 5pm

Wednesday, December 2, 2020 9am – completion

The recount will be conducted at the Jim R. Miller Event Center at 2245 Calloway Rd. SW, Marietta GA, 30008. The public is welcome to observe.

Background

If the margin in an election contest in Georgia falls within a half percent difference, the loser of the election can request a recount.

This recount is separate from the manual audit that was completed last week, whose results were announced on November 19.

“Georgia’s historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state’s new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported results,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “This is a credit to the hard work of our county and local elections officials who moved quickly to undertake and complete such a momentous task in a short period of time.”

“Georgia’s first statewide audit successfully confirmed the winner of the chosen contest and should give voters increased confidence in the results,” said Ben Adida, Executive Director of VotingWorks. “We were proud to work with Georgia on this historic audit. The difference between the reported results and the full manual tally is well within the expected error rate of hand-counting ballots, and the audit was a success.” 

Unlike the manual audit, the recount requested by the Trump campaign is a rescan of the ballots by machine. Election officials believe there is little likelihood that the recount will result in a significant change in the votes between Biden and Trump, and an even smaller chance that it would result in the president’s vote exceeding the president-elect’s.