Officials: Georgia audit confirms secretary of state winner

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the Georgia Secretary of State, rolls a 10-sided die as part of process to randomly determine which batches of ballots to audit for a state-wide risk limiting audit of the 2022 general election during a press conference Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

A hand count of random batches of votes in Georgia’s recent election for secretary of state has confirmed Republican Brad Raffensperger’s victory, state election officials said.

The audit — required by state law — turned up a small difference in votes from the machine count used during the election, but the difference was well within the expected margin of error, the Secretary of State’s office announced Friday.

“This audit shows that our system works and that our county election officials conducted a secure, accurate election,” Raffensperger said in a statement.