Trump was seen in public for the first time since Joe Biden was named the election winner
Credit: AFP
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The Trump campaign alleged four dead people voted in Georgia’s elections in arguing their claims of widespread electoral fraud as Donald Trump was seen doing his first public event since Joe Biden was named the election winner.
In another escalation of the campaign’s fight against the election result, Republicans in Georgia released obituaries of deceased residents whose names they claimed were used to cast ballots in the state.
The campaign claims that voter records show the names of four deceased residents were used during this year’s election, and called on election authorities to "vigorously examine" the allegations. The Telegraph has been unable to verify these claims.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Tim Murtagh, the campaign’s communications director, said: "It remains the view of the Trump campaign that this election is not over."
Mr Murtaugh admitted that the small number of voter fraud claims in Georgia the campaign was alleging would not alter the outcome, but suggested the campaign would take a piecemeal approach process towards their "eventual goal of the president being re-elected".
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announces recount
Credit: AP
“If everyone is looking for one single action that will be the silver bullet that overturns the entire election — it’s going to be a process,” he added.
It came as Georgia announced it would conduct a recount of the presidential votes cast in the state by hand, a move which had been pushed by Mr Trump’s team.
The manual recount will use the paper printouts created under Georgia’s electronic voting system, a step further than the electronic “scan” recount required by law.
Mr Raffensperger said he would invite poll watchers from both parties to oversee the recount because “the stakes are high.”
Joe Biden, the president-elect, currently leads Mr Trump in the state by more than 14,000 votes with almost all the ballots counted, meaning it is unlikely that a recount would materially change the outcome of the result.
The decision was announced by Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, who has come under fire from members of his own party over the state’s electoral process.
Geographical US election map
Mr Raffensperger has robustly defended the state’s elections but said he was ordering the by-hand recount because of the close margins in the result and the "national significance" of the outcome.
A recount would last several days, with officials hoping to complete it by November 20.
Meanwhile the Trump campaign also launched a lawsuit in Michigan, another battleground state where Mr Biden leads the president by roughly 148,000 votes, alleging voting misconduct.
Jake Rollow, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State, said the Trump campaign was promoting false claims to erode public confidence in Michigan’s elections.
There was growing speculation that the Trump campaign’s demands for recounts and legal challenges were aimed at delaying the certification of the results in tightly contested states.
It has been suggested that the president’s supporters could try to appoint their own electors in critical battleground states, who under America’s electoral college system are the ones who actually cast the vote for president.
Traditionally they follow the popular vote in their state but it is theoretically possible in most states for them to cast their vote as they wish.
Meanwhile Mr Trump resumed his presidential duties on Wednesday, laying a wreath in Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate the country’s fallen troops on Veterans’ Day, a public holiday in the US.
Mr Trump looked sombre as he appeared alongside First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence and did not address reporters.
However in a string of tweets throughout the day Mr Trump escalated his claims of electoral sabotage, claiming in one tweet that inaccurate polling by ABC News and the Washington Post amounted to a "possibly illegal suppression".
Mr Trump referred to a poll by the outlets released before election day and which showed Mr Trump down 17 points in Wisconsin.
Rather, Mr Trump claims, he was on the verge of winning the Midwestern state. In fact, Mr Biden won Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes with most ballots counted.
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