There are about 60,000 votes remaining to be counted in Georgia and the expectation is they will get through the process Thursday, according to Georgia's Voting System Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling.
"Fast is great and we all appreciate fast, but we more appreciate accuracy," Sterling told reporters Thursday. "Accuracy will be the bedrock upon which people will believe the outcomes of these elections, be it on the winning side or the losing side."
Sterling also gave an impassioned defense of state-wide county election officials as not involved in "fraud" or "voter suppression."
"These are people that are not involved in voter fraud," Sterling said. "These people are not involved in voter suppression."
Sterling reminded reporters "this is the first time Georgia has used paper ballots in 20 years," which has led to the expected delays in the counting of mail-in absentee ballots. There is a benefit to that, however, because there is a paper trail and a record for potential audits and recounts, Sterling added.
The fact the races are so tight puts a spotlight and "pressure" on Georgia to get the count right the first time, he continued.
"Here's the thing: Florida has more to count than we do, but their margin's wider, so it doesn't matter as much," Sterling said. "We have a much smaller margin and we're aware of that fact and the county election officials feel that pressure. They understand."
The race for the White House might be decided for Joe Biden if he were to take the state, but equally important is the race for Senate between Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., and Democrat firebrand Jon Ossof. Perdue has a lead, but he has recently falling below the 50% threshold, which will force a January runoff that would determine the balance of power in the Senate.
The other Georgia Senate seat held by Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., is already headed for a runoff with Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced, as of 2:15 p.m. Thursday, there were more than 47,000 votes remaining to be counted. That figure does not include provisional ballots and ballots that need to be “cured” before being scanned. Ballots cast by military voters and citizens living overseas can also be received through 5 p.m. Friday and still be tallied.
Many of the outstanding ballots left to be tallied were in Democratic strongholds in metro Atlanta and Chatham County, which contains Savannah.
Democrats have not won a Senate race in Georgia in two decades, but Republican dominance in statewide races has been slipping in recent elections.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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