A server crash in Fulton County, Georgia brought ballot counting to a temporary halt over the weekend as the state’s deadline to finish the recount grows nearer. According to Atlanta’s Fox 5, the Georgia World Congress Center’s Dominion Voting Systems server crashed on Sunday (Nov. 29), pausing the recount.
“Technicians from Dominion have been dispatched to resolve the issue,” Fulton County election officials said in a statement. “The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has also been alerted to the issue and is aware of efforts to resolve the problem.”
Counting is expected to resume today (Nov. 30) after the issue is resolved. Election workers in the state are facing a Wednesday midnight deadline (Dec. 2) to finish the presidential recount. This is the third time Georgia officials have had to count the votes, due to the Trump campaign’s repeated recount requests.
Prior to the server crash, Fox 5 reports that 88 percent of Fulton County’s votes had been recounted, including absentee, early in-person and provisional ballots. Joe Biden is currently the projected winner of the state, leading by around 13,000 votes, and the results are not expected to change much. Biden made history earlier this month when he was announced the projected victor in Georgia — becoming the first Democrat to win the state in almost 30 years.
Still, Trump and his team requested another recount and insisted on signature matching, which was not allowed under Georgia law. Ballots are being recounted by scanner machines this time, following the state’s previous recount by hand.
“I can assue the voters of Fulton County that are watching us that in Fulton County, Georgia we run open, fair and transparent elections,” Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said. “This is a very transparent process to make sure everything is above board.”
Several other Georgia counties are also racing to meet Wednesday’s deadline. Officials in Gwinnett County have reportedly recounted almost 300,000 ballots so far and Cobb County extended its officials’ work hours to finish in time.