The Columbia County Board of Elections certified the results of the March 12 elections and reiterated a hand count of the ballots would not be happening.
For the Georgia House of Representatives District 125 race, the official results have Gary Richardson receiving 3,472 votes and C.J. Pearson receiving 2,361 votes.
The official results for the City of Grovetown City Council race have Jacqueline Riviera-Player receiving 441 votes and 466 for Ceretta Smith.
For the Presidential Preference Primary, the official count has Donald Trump receiving 11,364 votes and Joe Biden receiving 2,549 votes. The rest of the votes went to the other candidates.
Several citizens attended the meeting and requested a hand count or recount of the District 125 race. A hand count is when the ballots would physically be counted by hand and a recount is when the ballots are run through the machine again, board members said.
“A hand count would not alter anything with the certification,” said Nancy Gay, executive director of the Board of Elections. “A hand count would not change anything.
Board Member Larry Wiggins said legally a request for a recount be done by the Georgia Secretary of State because the District 125 election spanned multiple counties. It was also mentioned that McDuffie County had issues with the District 125 race.
Gay said the issue on election morning was with the poll pads and having two elections on the same day. The poll pads were powered down, turned back on, with Gay saying they hit the sync button and were redirected to the District 125 ballot. It was added that McDuffie County had similar problems with the District 125 race.
“If you look at the votes cast and the votes that were tabulated, those numbers match except for in one precinct, that’s it,” Gay said. “Everything else matched.”
Gay told board members the risk limiting audit of the Presidential Preference Primary will take place on Wednesday, March 20 starting at 10 a.m. the former Euchee Creek Library.
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
