November 11, 2020 11:18 AM
SOS Raffensperger Moves December Runoff to Jan. 5; Hand Recount for Presidential Race
This posting has been updated/clarified from its original posting: The Secretary of State’s office has sent word that the only runoff moved to January 5 is the race for Public Service Commission. Local runoffs, such as those for District Attorney, will still be conducted on December 1st.
Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) has published that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has announced that the Public Service Commission runoff December runoffs in Georgia, both local and statewide, has been moved to January 5, 2021. Further, it was announced that a full hand recount of almost 5 million ballots for the Presidential race will take place in Georgia.
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If this is the process as outlined in the article below, it may speed things up. The audit was going to happen anyway and the recount was going to happen anyway. This kind of combines the two. Now if they can get the count done in 9 days, the election may be certified on 11/20. I hope the red counties do not drag their feet to make the election to0 late to certify.
“”Raffensperger, a Republican, said the recount will be conducted by hand in each of Georgia’s 159 counties, and it must be completed by a Nov. 20 deadline to finalize election results. Poll workers will review the printed text on ballots and then sort them into piles to check the accuracy of results.
The recount will be combined with a previously planned audit of paper ballots. But instead of auditing a relatively small sample of ballots, the review will encompass all ballots.
The decision to start a hand recount came after the Trump campaign requested it Tuesday. Raffensperger said he wasn’t influenced by the Trump campaign.”
https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-launches-statewide-hand-recount-of-presidential-race/7PWR53SU6BAWDBOFRBJAW6HERA/
From: 2019 Georgia Code
Title 21 – Elections
Chapter 2 – Elections and Primaries Generally
Article 12 – Returns
§ 21-2-499. Duty of Secretary of State as to tabulation, computation, and canvassing of votes for state and federal officers; certification of presidential electors by Governor…
“(b) The Secretary of State shall also, upon receiving the certified returns for presidential electors, proceed to tabulate, compute, and canvass the votes cast for each slate of presidential electors and shall immediately lay them before the Governor. Not later than 5:00 P.M. on the seventeenth day following the date on which such election was conducted, the Secretary of State shall certify the votes cast for all candidates described in subparagraph (a)(4)(A) of Code Section 21-2-497 and upon all questions voted for by the electors of more than one county and shall no later than that same time lay the returns for presidential electors before the Governor. The Governor shall enumerate and ascertain the number of votes for each person so voted and shall certify the slates of presidential electors receiving the highest number of votes. The Governor shall certify the slates of presidential electors no later than 5:00 P.M. on the eighteenth day following the date on which such election was conducted. Notwithstanding the deadlines specified in this Code section, such times may be altered for just cause by an order of a judge of superior court of this state.”
https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-21/chapter-2/article-12/section-21-2-499/
That last line allows the certification date to be moved back if needed.
Well, I was skeptical that the move for a hand recount was done to make it impossible for SoS to certify votes on time. I thus don’t think it implausible that the SoS will need more time, and may ask a Court for it. Hand sorting, but still subject to machine glitches in counting, with maximum observers sticking noses into every little thing, cross-checks on signatures and eligibility, etc. Sounds like plenty of opportunity for delay. But I get the recount is designed to ensure confidence, and it very well may. But the opportunity for delay is why I am skeptical that the strategy doesn’t remain one designed just for delay, where after the hand recount, there will be another petition seeking to prevent the SoS from certifying the results (despite the great lengths of the hand recount), or to throw out ballots that would have had adjudicated differently, etc. Or maybe a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Governor from certifying based upon the allegations of the lawsuit itself.
The safe harbor deadline for Georgia to submit its slate of electors is Dec. 8th. A failure of governor’s signature by then would mean Congress would have to resolve the dispute somehow.
So, the SoS has some time to count, but don’t expect that to pacify the subsequent lawsuits- rather, they may fuel them. And Democrats have to be prepared to file their own lawsuit – in the first week of December at latest- seeking to mandate the SoS/Governor to certify/sign.
I found this doc with some detail:
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11641
There was some prescience in this piece about contingencies and Congress’ readiness:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/congress-is-remarkably-unprepared-for-a-contested-presidential-election-heres-how-it-could-play-out-this-november/ar-BB17Bwfw
And surely part of the delay may involve a request for a machine recount after the hand audit/recount. So- if the audit/hand recount gets done by 11/20, Republicans/Trump can still request an actual recount, which could take another week. If the request is made, the SoS will have no choice but to ask the Court for 7 to 10 more days to complete the recount. Mind you, this will also mean election workers would have to work through their Thanksgiving break, unless I suppose the SoS allows a holiday pause. But it won’t end there, even, I think. Some possibilities in above comment, but there remains an absurd possibility that the request for formal recount will be accompanied by a lawsuit requesting that recount be done by hand, even after the audit/hand recount, asserting a right to double-check every single vote. If they can just find a way to create enough confusion and havoc to stall through Dec. 8th…
I’m confused. We have to vote on 2 different days for the run-offs? Why does the Absentee ballot site only reference the 1/5/21 date?
In addition to the two U.S. Senate runoff races, there is only one state-wide runoff, that for the Public Service Commission position. All other run-offs would be local ones, such as the Special Election for U.S. House Georgia District 5 (John Lewis’ seat). If you live in the 5th District, that race will appear on your ballot. If not, then no. BTW, that U.S. House Georgia District 5 race is just to fill the unexpired term of office, about 6 weeks. After that, the winner of the race for that seat in the General Election will take the seat to serve the next two years.
For sale: 35,000 lightly used voting machines. Less than one year old and most have only been used for 2 days, if that. Caveat emptor. The original purchasers are now convinced that they were hornswoggaled by the Governor’s former chief-of-staff among others and now doubt the accuracy of the machines on offer, though they have not one scintilla of proof to bolster these doubts. No reasonable offer refused. Will even trade for 10 million black and white marbles and a giant abacus.