Georgia is heading to an election recount. What are the rules?

With the presidential race in Georgia at razor-thin margins, election officials say the state is heading to a recount.

“The final tally in Georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference Friday. “The stakes are high and emotions are high on all sides.”

Election officials say the recount likely will be only for the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden held a slim lead of about 1,500 votes Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, election officials said 4,169 votes remained to be counted.

The vote count margin between Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff appeared too wide for either candidate to request a recount, officials said. With neither candidate winning 50% of the vote as of Friday, that race could go to a runoff.

Here’s what to know about recount rules:

▪ In Georgia, the losing candidate can request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of the total votes cast. An election superintendent also may order a recount.

▪ The state’s new touchscreen voting machines print out paper ballots that voters then insert into scanners. During a recount, these paper ballots are re-inserted into machines to be counted.

▪ No ballots will be counted by people but rather scanned by computers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

▪ Each candidate is allowed to observe the process or choose a representative to watch.

▪ While candidates must wait for an election to be certified to request a recount, an election superintendent can order a recount earlier.

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Georgia is heading to an election recount. What are the rules?."