Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Friday that the presidential race in the state is so tight it will necessitate a recount, stressing that the outcome “has huge implications for the entire country.” “With a margin that small, there will be a recount in Georgia,” Raffensperger said, adding that the race is down to thousands of votes. “Right now, Georgia remains too close to call,” he said, noting that “out of approximately five million votes cast, we'll have a margin of a few thousand.”

Joe Biden took the lead over President Donald Trump in the battleground state early Friday, nudging ahead by just 1,096 votes. The batch of votes that gave him the lead came from Clayton County, part of which was represented by the late John Lewis until his death in July. Officials said Friday morning there were 4,169 ballots remaining to be counted, but Raffensperger also pointed to “8,890 military ballots outstanding that will be counted if they return by the close of business today.” Under Georgia law, a candidate can request a recount if the margin is less than 0.5 percent of votes cast. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he will not require victory in Georgia.