Trump vs. Biden: How 2,600 Uncounted Georgia Votes Break Down

KEY POINTS

Audit in Floyd County finds 2,600 uncounted ballots
Those ballots won’t tip the election in favor of Trump
Changes may be needed at the top, state official says

An audit of in-person votes cast in the Georgia election uncovered more than 2,600 uncounted ballots, but not enough to turn the race in President Donald Trump’s favor.

Gabriel Sterling, the manager of the state voting system at the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, said through Twitter on Monday that Trump increased his vote count only marginally -- by 778 net votes.

Here is the unofficial breakdown of the ballots that weren’t originally uploaded I Floyd. 1,643 votes for Pres. Trump, 865 for former VP Biden and 16 for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen. That is 778 for President Trump that will be reflected in the certified result. #gapol
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) November 17, 2020

Most major media outlets called Georgia and its 16 votes in the Electoral College for former Vice President Joe Biden. Even with the additional votes, Trump still trails Biden by about 13,000 votes statewide.

“Nothing is making us see any substantial change in the outcome,” Sterling was quoted by Atlanta’s WSB-TV as saying.

Sterling went on to say it was likely an unfortunate human error and not a mechanical or other malfunction at the ballot box. It was limited only to Floyd County.

“It is the only county where we’ve had an issue like this,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s not an equipment issue. It’s a person not executing their job properly ... This is the kind of situation that requires I think a change at the top of their management.”

State election director Chris Harvey was quoted by the Atlantic Journal Constitution as saying the ballots will be scanned in again and counted before the end of the week.

“You want every vote counted right the first time, but that is one of the goals of the audit: to identify problems,” he said. “All the votes will be uploaded, and the results will be what they are.”

Some were critical of the issue on social media, saying the slim gains for Trump were reflective of his longshot bid to litigate the results. Others suggested it was a failure of the Republican leadership in the state as Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Plaintiffs supportive of Trump on Monday dropped election-related lawsuits in four states, making a change in the outcome unlikely. The dismissal of the recently filed lawsuits occurred in swing states Biden won in the election, including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.