Washington:  The US state of Georgia on Wednesday announced a hand recount of votes as President-elect Joe Biden has a narrow lead of over 14,000 over President Donald Trump.

With the margin being so close, there is a need to recount, Georgia’s secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said. He is from the Republican Party.

The hand recount of votes, however, will be only for the presidential election, he said.

Georgia has 16 electoral college votes. Trump has alleged there has been massive voter fraud and electoral malpractice.

State officials, according to The New York Times, have said that there has been no such evidence so far.

As of Wednesday, President-elect Biden had 279 of the 538 electoral college votes, with 270 being the halfway mark.

Biden has enough electoral votes to be the president even without Georgia, The New York Times reported.

Along with Georgia, Trump has filed lawsuits in the state of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and sought recounting of votes in Wisconsin.

With the margin being so close, it will require a full by-hand recount in each county, Raffensperger told reporters at a news conference in Atlanta.

Such a decision has been made because of the national significance of the outcome of the election results in the state, he said.

It will be a heavy lift. This will help build confidence. It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvass all at once. We have all worked hard to bring fair and accurate counts to assure that the will of the voters is reflected in the final count, he said, adding that observers from both the political parties would be present during the hand recount.

Press Trust of India