US elections: Georgia certifies results in presidential race

ANKARA

The US state of Georgia has certified the results of the 2020 presidential election, Secretary of State’s Office said Friday in a statement.

Georgia has finished an audit of votes that started last Friday for the election race between President Donald Trump and Democratic contender Joe Biden.

After a full hand count audit of approximately 5 million votes cast in the presidential race in Georgia, Biden has maintained his lead over Trump in the Peach State, according to the certified results.

"The Secretary of State affirms that the statewide consolidated returns for state and federal offices are a true and correct tabulation of the certified returns received by this office from each county," the statement said.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told in a press conference he is "disappointed" to see the president lose Georgia since he is "a passionate conservative" and "a proud Trump supporter."

"Working as an engineer throughout my life, I live by the motto that numbers don't lie ... I believe that the numbers that we have presented today are correct," he told.

"The numbers reflect the verdict of the people. Not a decision by the secretary of state's office, or of courts, or of either campaign," he added.

Republicans have not lost Georgia and its 16 electoral votes in a presidential race to Democrats in almost three decades, after then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton won the state in 1992 against Republican President George H. W. Bush.