Georgia heading for recount as race too close to call, says top official

‘The stakes are high and emotions are high on all sides’

The contest in the vital state of Georgia is “too close to call” and heading for a recount, a  top official has revealed.

In a move that automatically put even greater attention on to the outstanding counts in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona, the Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, said the race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden had reached the degree of closeness that officials could not call the state, with its 16 electoral votes.

The Biden campaign in particular - to which the Associated Press has awarded 264 electoral votes - may have been looking to the long term Republican stronghold for a quick win to take it over the 270 threshold required to secure the White House.

With officials in Georgia indicating that decision will not come any time soon, and with the possibility of course, the state could be won by Mr Trump, attention will again turn to Mr Biden’s home state, Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes and which is also very close. That state, too, could see a recount.

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“Right now, Georgia rates too close to call,” said Mr Raffensperger, who is a Republican. “Of approximately 5 million votes cast, we will have a margin of a few thousand.”

He added: “The focus for our office, and for the county election officials, for now remains on making sure that every legal vote is counted and recorded accurately.”

He said the next step would involve a recount of those votes, something that could take many days.

“Interest in our election, obviously goes far beyond Georgia's borders. The final tally in Georgia at this point has huge implications for the entire country,” he said.  

On Thursday evening, Donald Trump launched a blistering attack from the White House, claiming - with no evidence - he was a victim of electoral fraud and denouncing those overseeing the count.

"If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us," Mr Trump claimed. 

On Friday, a key Republican senator said he saw no evidence to support Mr Trump's assertions that Democrats were trying to “steal” the election, and called his words “very disturbing”.

Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, whose state is a key battleground in the presidential election, said “There's simply no evidence anyone has shown me of any widespread corruption or fraud” to supported Trump's claim Thursday of fraud in balloting.”

Speaking to CBS News, he added: “The president's speech last night was very disturbing to me because he made very, very serious allegations without any evidence to support it.”

In his remarks on Friday, Mr Raffensperger did not refer to Mr Trump, or his attacks.

However, he said: “The stakes are high and emotions are high on all sides. We will not let those debates distract us from our work. We will get it right.”

Additional reporting by agencies