Gwinnett County finishes counting ballots, getting ready for Senate runoffs and potential recount

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County said it has finished counting ballots for the Nov. 3 election. The board of elections added in provisional ballots to the total and certified the election Monday morning.

It was the last official step as the county hands over its vote totals to the state. We are still waiting for the final numbers to be posted.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Election 2020]

Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas learned that 702 partial or total ballots were added to the final tally. About 263 provisional ballots were rejected for various reasons.

Tuesday’s election flipped Gwinnett County to the Democrats, and at least two software glitches caused delays there.

One election board member told Thomas that she was not happy with the issues that came up.

“I’ve never seen an election, presidential or local election, that had so many hang-ups to it. I would just like to say I’m very disappointed in the system. I’m never, and would never be, disappointed with the people,” Gwinnett election board member Alice O’Lenick said. “My confidence in the Dominion system has waned.”

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Dominion is the software company the new state voting system runs on.

While Olenick voiced displeasure with the software system manufacturer, the group’s independent chair, John Mangano, expressed confidence any issues can be solved before the expected runoffs.

“We will have to make sure we are talking with Dominion and the state, and make sure whatever we learned from this election will be fixed going into the runoff,” Mangano said.

[How do provisional ballots work? Here’s what you need to know]

“Do you have confidence that can happen?” Thomas asked Mangano.

“I have no reason not to,” Mangano said.

Despite all the swirling allegations of vote fraud in the bigger picture, it is important to note during a public comment opportunity Monday, no one complained to the board in Gwinnett about any issues of wrongdoing.

[RELATED: Joe Biden continues to pick up votes in Georgia after clinching presidency]

All eyes are now on Georgia as the state prepares for two crucial Senate races that could determine the balance of power in Washington.

Kelly Loeffler is slated for a runoff with Raphael Warnock and David Perdue will face Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff on January 5.

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