Columbia County Georgia Election Results to be ‘Manually Counted’ After Tabulation Machine Malfunctions in Several Precincts: Report

Columbia County Board of Commissioners has reportedly demanded an immediate hand count of tonight’s election ballots following reports of widespread “technological errors” in voting machine operations across several precincts.

CJ Pearson, a pro-Trump candidate contending for a State House seat in Georgia, has been vocal about the irregularities, taking to social media to express his concerns and allegations.

“I have received reports that several precincts in my district experienced voting machine malfunctions related to a “technological error,” Pearson wrote on X.

“This has prompted the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to call for a physical hand count of the race. We are currently monitoring this situation to survey the impact it may have had on our race,” he added.

I have received reports that several precincts in my district experienced voting machine malfunctions related to a “technological error”

This has prompted the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to call for a physical hand count of the race.

We are currently monitoring this…

— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) March 12, 2024

The Board of Commissioners has not released a statement detailing the specific nature of the technological errors nor the expected impact on tonight’s results.

Pearson’s statement has struck a chord with many of his supporters and voters across the political spectrum in Georgia, who are now questioning the reliability of the automated election systems.

Behizy wrote, “This news comes from Pro-Trump State House candidate CJ Pearson. Are they trying to cheat Pearson out of a win Voters in Georgia can’t even trust that their vote will be counted. It’s hilarious how tabulation machine malfunctions are always corrected by hand counting. Why can’t it be the default? BAN THE MACHINES. HAND COUNT THE VOTES.”

BREAKING: Columbia County, Georgia Board of Commissioners have called for a physical hand count of tonight’s election results after tabulation machine malfunctions related to a “technological error” were reported in multiple precincts

This news comes from Pro-Trump State House… pic.twitter.com/jetd7B2lPv

— George (@BehizyTweets) March 12, 2024

Another X user, wrote, “Guys the machines stole all the votes in this Democrats precinct in 2022. She actually WON her race when they did recount!”

Guys the machines stole all the votes in this Democrats precinct in 2022. She actually WON her race when they did recount! #recalldominion https://t.co/c7cPS1ELUv

— Robin O’Brien (@zombiemommy) March 12, 2024

New York Times reported:

The candidate, Michelle Long Spears, was shortchanged by 3,792 votes in the District 2 primary for the Board of Commissioners in DeKalb County, Ga., that was held on May 24, according to newly-certified results released on Friday.

In all but four of the district’s nearly 40 precincts, no Election Day votes were recorded for Ms. Spears, who had received more than 2,000 early votes. She said that she immediately alerted state and county election authorities.

After conducting a hand count over the Memorial Day weekend and auditing those returns, election officials determined that they had drastically underreported the vote totals for Ms. Spears.

She received 43 percent of the vote, not 24 percent, as reported by an unofficial and incomplete election summary posted on May 25 on the county’s website. As the top vote-getter, Ms. Spears qualified for a June 21 runoff against the second-place candidate, Lauren Alexander.

Election officials attributed the discrepancy to a series of technical and human errors, which they characterized as being isolated to the primary race.