Trump campaign presses Georgia to hand count every ballot

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Georgia secretary of state signals there will be a recount

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger hints the battleground state will recount its votes given the current razor-thin margin in the presidential race.

Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins is calling on his state to conduct a manual recount of the 2020 election, as President Trump and President-elect Joe Biden were roughly 0.2% apart as counting continued Tuesday morning.

One week after Election Day, the state is headed toward a recount, and with the Trump campaign raising allegations of voter fraud, Collins is hoping a thorough audit will bring any irregularities to light. He listed three specific requests that he would like to see Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger fulfill during the recount process.

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“First, there must be a full comparison of absentee ballots cast and in-person and provisional ballots cast throughout the state,” Collins said in a statement released by the Trump campaign. “Second, there must be a check for felons and other ineligible persons who may have cast a ballot. Third, and most importantly, the Secretary of State should announce a full hand-count of every ballot cast in each and every county due to widespread allegations of voter irregularities, issues with voting machines, and poll watcher access.”

Collins said that if Raffensperger does not willingly agree to these demands, the campaign will file a court petition seeking an order from a judge.

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On Monday, Georgia Voting System Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling spoke out against some of the allegations of foul play, but at the same time he did not deny that voter fraud is real.

"We are going to find that people did illegally vote -- that's going to happen,” Sterling told reporters. “There are going to be double voters. There are going to be people who did not have the qualifications for registered voters to vote in this state.”

Officials work on ballots at the Gwinnett County Voter Registration and Elections Headquarters, Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, in Lawrenceville, near Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

While he admitted that such fraudulent practices will likely be discovered, Sterling said it would not be on a scale large enough to impact the election's results.

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"Is it 10,353?" Sterling said, referring to Biden's lead at the time. "Unlikely. But every election, as I've said I think every day at this podium, is imperfect."

Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.