Northwest Georgia election results remain largely unchanged after statewide audit

Catoosa County Board of Elections member Rickey Kittle hands a reviewed ballot to Catoosa County Board of Elections member Phil Langston during the first day of recounts for the 2020 election at the Catoosa County Elections office on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Ringgold, Ga. (Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Catoosa County Board of Elections member Rickey Kittle hands a reviewed ballot to Catoosa County Board of Elections member Phil Langston during the first day of recounts for the 2020 election at the Catoosa County Elections office on Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, in Ringgold, Ga. (Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

Counties in Northwest Georgia found few, if any, differences in the outcome during an unprecedented hand audit of the presidential election results, comparing them to the election night count.

Danielle Montgomery, elections director in Walker County, said there was an 18-vote difference between election night and the audit that was finished on Monday at about 2:30 p.m. Election night totals were 29,514 and after the hand audit, the total was 29,496. Montgomery said the difference was due to human error while hand counting.

Tonya Moore, elections director in Catoosa County, said one vote out of the more than 32,000 that were cast changed from Biden to Trump after the audit. Moore said the ballot must have been placed in the wrong bin during the initial count.

Following the audit, President Trump added 30 votes to his total in Whitfield County and Biden lost three votes. Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen also added three votes.

Vote totals in Gordon, Chattooga, Dade and Murray counties stayed exactly the same.

Before the statewide "risk-limiting audit," Biden led Trump by a margin of about 14,000 votes, making the President-elect the first Democratic candidate to win Georgia since 1992.

After the statewide audit, Biden leads Trump by just under 13,000.

Additional ballots were found in Douglas, Fayette, Floyd and Walton counties. The Secretary of State's office has noted the newly discovered votes were a result of human error on the part of county elections workers using the new voting system.

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.

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