Technical issue means no more ballots released Friday from Gwinnett County

ATLANTA — Former Vice President Joe Biden took the lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia by a slim margin early Friday morning.

The race is still too close to call with all the outstanding ballots, including provisional and military ballots.

[RELATED: When will we have a winner in the presidential election in Georgia?]

Today was the deadline to return military/overseas ballots, verify provisional ballots and for voters to cure absentee ballots, so more votes could still be coming in today.

LIVE coverage as results continue to come in on Channel 2 Action News on right now and streaming on WSB Now on your Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.

Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska races have still not been called by ABC News.

[ELECTION RESULTS: Live real-time Georgia 2020 General Election results]

10:20 p.m.

Democrat Jon Ossoff advances to runoff election against David Perdue for U.S. Senate in Georgia.

9:42 p.m.

Gwinnett County says it will resume counting ballots at 9 a.m.

9:11 p.m.

Here’s how the vote stands as of 9 p.m.

Biden’s leading by 4,020 votes.

Biden 49.4% (2,456,845 votes)

Trump 49.3% (2,452,825 votes)

Approximate votes potentially left to be counted*: 24,300

7:50 p.m.

Gwinnett County says a technical issue will keep them from processing anymore votes tonight:

6:55 p.m.

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas has an update on votes in Gwinnett County:

6:38 p.m.

Here is the latest from the Secretary of State’s Office on the vote count across Georgia:

“Officials in numerous counties are continuing to count ballots, with strong security protocols in place to protect the integrity of our election. We have long anticipated – and said publicly – that counting would most likely take place into Wednesday night and perhaps Thursday morning. We’re on pace to accomplish that responsibly, ensuring that the voice of every eligible voter is heard. It’s important to act quickly, but it’s more important to get it right.”

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger noted numerous security measures in place to secure the vote and increase public confidence in the electoral process:

• Absentee drop boxes were locked at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, preventing illegal voting or potential fraud. ▪ Surveillance cameras monitored drop boxes at all times. ▪ State monitor is in the room with Fulton County for all counts and the public is welcome to observe any county as an added layer of transparency. ▪ A pre-certification audit will provide additional confidence that the votes were accurately counted.
• Absentee drop boxes were locked at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, preventing illegal voting or potential fraud.
• Surveillance cameras monitored drop boxes at all times.
• State monitor is in the room with Fulton County for all counts and the public is welcome to observe any county as an added layer of transparency.
• A pre-certification audit will provide additional confidence that the votes were accurately counted.

“We’re well aware that with a close presidential election and the possibility of runoffs in some elections that the eyes of the state and the nation are upon Georgia at this time,” Raffensperger said. “We’re as anxious as anyone to see the final results and to start work on certification and planning for our runoff elections. As the work goes on, I want to assure Georgia voters that every legal vote was cast and accurately counted.”

5:00 p.m.

New numbers from the Secretary of State’s office give Biden 4,235 vote lead over Trump in Georgia. Many of those votes came from Gwinnett County.

• Trump: 2,451,191 votes
• Biden: 2,455,426 votes

4:43 p.m.

About 5,000 ballots from Gwinnett County now being sent to the state.

4:36 p.m.

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas says next batch of outstanding ballots from Gwinnett County being sent to state.

4:24 p.m.

Spalding County Sheriff puts out news release over claims of ballots being thrown in a dumpster.

3:30 p.m.

Gov. Kemp, Lt. Gov. Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston release joint statement on vote counting:

“Free and fair elections are the foundation of our American government. Any allegations of intentional fraud or violations of election law must be taken seriously and investigated. We trust that our Secretary of State will ensure that the law is followed as written and that Georgia’s election result includes all legally-cast ballots — and only legally-cast ballots. We will continue to follow this situation to ensure a fair and transparent process.”

3:10 p.m.

Secretary of State’s official Gabriel Sterling releases new numbers or ballots left to be counted. Biden currently leads Trump by 1,585 votes.

2:50 p.m.

Sen. David Perdue releases statement as they prepare for runoff.

2:45 p.m.

Gov. Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston releases the following joint statement about the election:

“Free and fair elections are the foundation of our American government. Any allegations of intentional fraud or violations of election law must be taken seriously and investigated. We trust that our Secretary of State will ensure that the law is followed as written and that Georgia’s election result includes all legally-cast ballots — and only legally-cast ballots. We will continue to follow this situation to ensure a fair and transparent process.”

2:05 p.m.

The Associated Press has declared Carolyn Bourdeaux the winner in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District. Bourdeaux defeated Republican Rich McCormick 51.2% to 48.8%. The district covers portions of Gwinnett and Forsyth counties.

1:55 p.m.

President Trump released a statement on Friday afternoon blasting the election process and access to vote counting.

“We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process. From the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted, yet we have met resistance to this basic principle by Democrats at every turn," President Trump wrote.

We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation,” the President added.

1:30 p.m.

Donald Trump tweets about “missing” military ballots in Georgia. Here’s what you need to know:

12:00 p.m.

Counties are now preparing for runoffs for state and local elections to begin on Monday.

Here are the key dates moving forward.

11:30 a.m.

ABC News projects Democrat Mark Kelly will win Arizona senate race, flipping the seat. This will make Georgia’s two runoffs even more important when it comes to balance of power.

10:37 a.m.

Gabriel Sterling with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office says there are now 4,169 outstanding ballots remaining. That number does not include military/overseas ballots or provisional ballots.

The county-by-county breakdown is as follows:

• Cherokee County: 150
• Cobb County: 75
• Floyd County: 444
• Gwinnett County: Approx. 3,500

The 1,700 votes though to be outstanding from Laurens County were accidentally upload into Election Day totals instead of absentee. That has now been corrected and result totals will not change.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said there may not be an official winner for another two weeks and a recount could take five days if one happens.

10:32 am.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joined ABC News and discussed the election fraud claims his office has received.

10:23 a.m.

Jon Ossoff is speaking in Grant Park as he braces for a potential runoff with Sen. David Perdue

10:00 a.m.

Matt Morgan, Trump 2020 campaign general counsel, released the following statement Friday morning:

“This election is not over. The false projection of Joe Biden as the winner is based on results in four states that are far from final. Georgia is headed for a recount, where we are confident we will find ballots improperly harvested, and where President Trump will ultimately prevail. There were many irregularities in Pennsylvania, including having election officials prevent our volunteer legal observers from having meaningful access to vote counting locations. We prevailed in court on our challenge, but were deprived of valuable time and denied the transparency we are entitled to under state law. In Nevada, there appear to be thousands of individuals who improperly cast mail ballots. Finally, the President is on course to win Arizona outright, despite the irresponsible and erroneous ‘calling’ of the state for Biden by Fox News and the Associated Press. Biden is relying on these states for his phony claim on the White House, but once the election is final, President Trump will be re-elected.”

9:14 a.m.

Some of the military and overseas ballots in Georgia have already been returned and counted. But 8,900 remain outstanding.

8:50 a.m.

Joe Biden has taken the lead in another battleground state. ABC News reports Biden is now leading in Pennsylvania by 5,587 votes.

8:16 a.m.

There are just over 8,000 ballots outstanding in Georgia, not including military ballots. Here’s the breakdown:

*Note: The number of military/oversees ballots are those that have been sent out and not returned. The deadline to receive them is 5 p.m. today.

8:00 a.m.

Gabe Sterling, from Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office, said on Good Morning America that there are still more than 8,000 votes outstanding in Georgia. This include at least 4,800 ballots from Gwinnett County, which has trended blue and is likely to give Biden more of a lead. That figure doesn’t include provisional ballots, potential absentee ballot cures or military/overseas ballots. Sterling said the maximum number of military ballots that could come in is 8,899.

7:15 p.m.

The deadline for military/overseas ballots is today at 5 p.m. Nearly 9,000 were requested but not yet returned.

7:00 a.m.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announces she is coming to Georgia this afternoon.

6:15 a.m.

Gwinnett County says it has completed its re-adjudication of the absentee ballots that were affected by Election Night reporting issues. Tabulation of the re-adjudicated ballots, the remaining absentee by mail ballots received on Elections Day and the remaining ballots from the Shorty Howell advance in-person voting site will begin in the will begin again this morning.

“When the tabulation is completed, the results will be published to the Secretary of State’s election results website. The remaining votes, absentee by mail ballots awaiting signature cure, provisional ballots, and overseas and military ballots will not be added until sometime after the 5:00pm, November 6 deadline for signature cures, provisional ballot cures and acceptance of overseas and military ballots,” the county said in a statement.

The county says the earliest the Board of Registrations and Elections will meet to go over provisional ballots is Saturday but is currently not scheduled to meet until Monday morning.

6:01 a.m.

Here are the latest numbers in Georgia, according to ABC News. Biden now leads by 1,096 votes.

• Biden - 2,449,580
• Trump - 2,448,484

Votes still remain to be reported from Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Laurens and Taylor counties.

5:45 a.m.

10,000 votes are still outstanding in Georgia as Biden takes the lead over Trump. Today is the deadline to return military/overseas ballots, verify provisional ballots and for voters to cure absentee ballots, so more votes could still be coming in today. We’re LIVE all day on Channel 2 Action News and will bring you updates as we get new results.

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5:00 a.m.

Here’s where the vote stands currently:

• Biden 49.4% (2,449,371 votes)
• Trump 49.4% (2,448,454 votes)

4:38 a.m.

There are still thousands of outstanding ballots to count in Georgia. We expect to get a breakdown by county from the Secretary off State’s Office sometime Friday morning.

4:30 a.m.

2:05 a.m.

As of the most recent Secretary of State update, Donald Trump leads in Georgia by just over 1,300 votes.

2 a.m.

Channel 2′s Matt Johnson is LIVE inside Clayton County election headquarters as ballots continue to be processed and sent to the state.

1:14 a.m.

Results are trickling in from Clayton County as workers continue counting absentee ballots.

12:31 a.m.

How will states handle a recount? Here’s a quick look:

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