Georgia to re-certify Biden victory after two recounts, as Republican officials warn drawn-out election must stop

Mr Trump publicly questions Georgia governor’s loyalty; ‘what is he hiding?'

Georgia elections officials will recertify the results of the 2020 election after conducting a second recount and determining that Joe Biden has won the state. It is the third time Mr Biden has been named the victor of the state since 3 November.  

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said "we have now counted legally cast ballots three times, and the results remain unchanged."

The New York Times reported that Gabriel Sterling, another Republican elections official in Mr Raffensperger's office, said the state was waiting for one more country to return their results, after which the officials would more to recertify Mr Biden as the winner of the election.  

According to results posted by the states last week, Mr Biden has won by approximately 12,000 votes.

Both Mr Raffensperger and Mr Sterling have called for an end to the election challenges from the Trump campaign, pointing to death threats that they and their elections workers have received as growing evidence that Donald Trump has undermined the public’s trust in the democratic process. 

Mr Raffensperger said people have called his home and threatened him and his family if he did not throw the election for Mr Trump. 

Mr Sterling, appearing on NBC News’ “Meet the Press," he recalled getting a call from a young technician at Dominion Voting Software - a voting technology company that has become the focus of right-wing election fraud conspiracy theories - who told him that Trump supporters had tracked him down and sent him messages alleging he committed treason alongside the image of a swaying noose. 

Despite the pleas from members of his own party to stop his assault on election integrity, Mr Trump has only escalated his assault on Georgia’s democratic process. 

Over the weekend, Mr Trump attempted to pressure the state’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to overturn Mr Biden’s victory in that state. 

Mr Kemp and Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan issued a statement after the call that said "doing this in order to select a separate slate of presidential electors is not an option that is allowed under state or federal law.”

Mr Trump has since turned on Mr Kemp, questioning his loyalty and intentions at a rally he held over the weekend and again in tweets on Monday. 

“The Republican Governor of Georgia refuses to do signature verification, which would give us an easy win. What’s wrong with this guy? What is he hiding?” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. 

During his rally on Saturday, Mr Trump told a crowd that “your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing" and lamented that he had not found people to “do the right thing” in Georgia.